Disasters And Catastrophes: Their Conditions In And Consequences For Social Development

Abstract

Our paper is organized around three central questions: What can be conceptualized as a disaster? What are important conditions that generate these occasions? What are major consequences of disastrous occasions? In the first part of the paper we show that from a conceptual point of view, disastrous occasions are usefully dividable into "disasters" and "catastrophes". In particular we note the quantitative and qualitative differences between both everyday emergencies and "disasters" as well as between "disasters" and "catastrophes". In the next part of the paper we extensively discuss important social factors or conditions which facilitate or generate disasters and catastrophes. It is especially noted how disastrous occasions are rooted before impact in the ongoing social developments or the social changes and trends already existing in societies. Such projected changes almost assure that in the future we will have more and worse disastrous occasions. This part is followed by a briefer discussion of how disasters and catastrophes affect social development, especially at the macro level of societies. We especially note that there is considerable differentiation in if, where, and how, disastrous occasions affect social change and development. The paper concludes with a short discussion of how planning for disastrous occasions is also being positively affected by social changes.