Reimagining Disasters

Reimagining Disasters builds on the momentum gained by the 2019 Disaster Studies Manifesto, which aims to inspire and inform more respectful, reciprocal and genuine relationships between home and visiting researchers in disaster studies. The book challenges normative understandings of disaster and moves away from the hegemony of Western ontologies and epistemologies in understanding harm, hardship and suffering, that is, what we usually call ‘disaster’.

It consists of one theoretical chapter and five case studies from Chile, the Philippines, Zimbabwe, India and Nepal. The initial theoretical chapter revisits and contests the concept of ‘natural hazard’ as an underpinning and universal prerequisite for disasters to occur. The subsequent empirical studies led by home and indigenous scholars draw upon local concepts and methodologies to revisit, challenge and contest the concept of ‘disaster’ and how people experience hardship, harm and suffering.

Overall, this book shows that it is possible to conduct more just, grounded and relevant disaster studies that reflect local perspectives and priorities and challenge the established notions of power. It is an essential read for students and scholars interested in disaster and postcolonial studies.

JC Gaillard is Ahorangi o te Matawhenua/Professor of Geography at Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland. His work focuses on power and inclusion in disaster and disaster studies. It includes developing participatory tools for engaging minority groups in disaster risk reduction with an emphasis on cultural and gender minorities, people in detention and children.

Ksenia Chmutina is Professor of Disaster Studies at Loughborough University, UK. Her research focuses on the processes of disaster risk creation in the context of neoliberalism. It brings together critical theory and participatory methodologies to generate transdisciplinary understanding of disasters as socio-political processes. A core part of Ksenia’s activities is science communication: she is a co-host of a popular podcast ‘Disasters: Deconstructed’.