Improving Theory and Research on Hazard Mitigation: Political Economy and Organizational Perspectives
Date
1989-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Committee on Disasters, International Sociological Association
Abstract
This paper opens with a discussion of the progress that has been made to date in research and theory on mitigation. It goes on to suggest approaches that, by addressing neglected aspects of mitigation-related issues, may improve our understanding of the topic. Woven through the paper are calls for several shifts in emphasis with respect to studies on mitigation: (1) from a social system, consensus model to a conflict model on society and community; (2) from an event-based, discontinuous concept of disaster and mitigation to a view that stresses the continuity between ongoing social life and the disruption occasioned by natural and technological agents; (3) from the study of the social consequences of disasters to the study of aspects of the social order that increase risk and lead to disasters; and (4) from an individualistic, social psychological approach to mitigation to a perspective that takes into account macrolevel social phenomena.
Description
Keywords
Disaster Research, Natural Hazards, Mitigation, Theory, Politics, Organizations
Citation
International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters