The government of emergency : Vital systems, expertise, and the politics of security / Stephen J. Collier, Andrew Lakoff.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collier, Stephen J., author.

Lakoff, Andrew, 1970- author.

Series:

Princeton Studies in Culture and Technology

Princeton studies in culture and technology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Disaster relief--History--United States--20th century.

Disaster relief.

Emergency management--History--United States--20th century.

Emergency management.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (481 pages)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2021]

Summary:

"In the middle decades of the twentieth century, in the wake of economic depression, war, and in the midst of the Cold War, an array of technical experts and government officials developed a substantial body of expertise to contain and manage the disruptions to American society caused by unprecedented threats. Today the tools invented by these mid-twentieth century administrative reformers are largely taken for granted, assimilated into the everyday workings of government. As Stephen Collier and Andrew Lakoff argue in this book, the American government's current practices of disaster management can be traced back to this era. Collier and Lakoff argue that an understanding of the history of this initial formation of the "emergency state" is essential to an appreciation of the distinctive ways that the U.S. government deals with crises and emergencies-or fails to deal with them-today. This book focuses on historical episodes in emergency or disaster planning and management. Some of these episodes are well-known and have often been studied, while others are little-remembered today. The significance of these planners and managers is not that they were responsible for momentous technical innovations or that all their schemes were realized successfully. Their true significance lies in the fact that they formulated a way of understanding and governing emergencies that has come to be taken for granted"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

List of illustrations

Preface : a vulnerable world

Acknowledgments

Introduction : the new normalcy

Part I. crisis government in the great depression and world war II

Vital systems

Emergency government

Part II. demobilization and remobilization

Vulnerability

Preparedness

Part III. cold war planning for national survival

Enacting catastrophe

Survival resources

Epilogue : from nuclear war to climate change.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Print version: Collier, Stephen J. The Government of Emergency

ISBN:

9780691228884

0691228884

OCLC:

1257317390