Seismic city : an environmental history of San Francisco's 1906 earthquake / Joanna L. Dyl.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dyl, Joanna Leslie, 1973- author.

Series:

Weyerhaeuser environmental book

Weyerhaeuser environmental books

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban ecology (Sociology).

History.

Natural disasters--Social aspects.

Natural disasters.

Earthquakes--Social aspects.

Earthquakes.

Natural disasters--Environmental aspects.

Earthquakes--Environmental aspects.

San Francisco (Calif.)--Environmental conditions--History--20th century.

San Francisco (Calif.).

San Francisco (Calif.)--Social conditions--20th century.

San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906.

Earthquakes--Environmental aspects--California--San Francisco--History--20th century.

Natural disasters--Environmental aspects--California--San Francisco--History--20th century.

Earthquakes--Social aspects--California--San Francisco--History--20th century.

Natural disasters--Social aspects--California--San Francisco--History--20th century.

Urban ecology (Sociology)--California--San Francisco--History--20th century.

Ecology.

Social conditions.

California.

California--San Francisco.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xvii, 355 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2017]

Summary:

"Seismic City argues that the disaster of 1906 must be understood as part of the ordinary relationship between the city and its natural surroundings. Despite its short-term drama and immediate impact on people's lives, the 1906 earthquake and fire did not transform the history of San Francisco. Instead, San Franciscans rapidly incorporated the crisis into pre-existing debates about urban ecology, urban development, and social relations in the city. In the modern era, Americans have generally viewed 'natural' disasters as anomalous, exceptional events. Interpreting disasters as unpredictable 'acts of nature' that represent a disruption of ordinary life has justified a failure to adequately plan for disasters and concealed the ways in which social factors such as poverty play as much of a role in causing disasters as the geological or meteorological events that precipitate crises. By applying these insights to a close study of San Francisco's 1906 earthquake, including the decades leading up to the disaster and the city's recovery in the years after 1906, this project demonstrates how disaster and recovery became integrated into San Francisco's history, rather than transforming the city, and makes an important contribution to the interdisciplinary field of natural disaster studies"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Making land, making a city

Catastrophe and its interpretations

Bread lines and earthquake cottages

Rebuilding and the politics of place

Disaster capitalism in the streets

Plague, rats, and undesirable nature

Symbolic recovery and the legacies of disaster

Note on archival sources.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Dyl, Joanna Leslie, 1973- Seismic city.

ISBN:

9780295742465

0295742461

OCLC:

975270295

Publisher Number:

99974148180