The text offers a comprehensive and unique perspective on disaster risk associated with natural hazards. It covers a wide range of topics, reflecting the most recent debates but also older and pioneering discussions in the academic field of disaster studies as well as in the policy and practical areas of disaster risk reduction.
Disaster Risk offers a uniquely flexible teaching resource through its innovative structure. It emphasises two main reading pathways, the first focuses on the interactions between the human and natural dimensions of disasters and constitutes the conventional and linear structure of the book, which includes five main sections including the nature and impact of disasters; people's vulnerabilities and capacities; natural hazards; people's response to and resilience after disasters; and disaster risk reduction and management. The second pathway cuts across the previous sections and addresses transversal issues. These streams look at such as natural hazards, vulnerability and capacities as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender, age and health. An associated website provides links to additional material and teaching and learning activities. The four authors have extensive experience in the field of disaster studies and provide a wide range of expertise covering both the social and physical dimensions of disasters. In addition, they have a large experience as practitioners of disaster risk reduction and management and have extensively dealt with policy makers over the past two decades.
This book will be of particular interest to undergraduate students studying geography and environmental studies/science. It will also be of relevant to students/professionals from a wide range of social and physical science disciplines, including public health and public policy, sociology, anthropology, political science and geology.
About the Author: Irasema Alcántara-Ayala is former Director and current Professor and Researcher at the Institute of Geography of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Her research seeks to understand the root causes and drivers of disaster risk through forensic investigations of disasters, and to promote integrated research on disaster risk. She is particularly interested in bridging the gap between science and policymaking and practice in the developing world.
Christopher Gomez was born in France and after holding several academic positions in different countries, he took on the Professorship of Sediment Hazards and Disaster Risk (Sabo) at Kobe University in Japan, where he leads the Sabo laboratory. He also holds a Research Professor position at the Geography Department of Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia, as he is geographically focusing on the Indonesian and Japanese archipelago. His works focus on sediment transfer processes, related hazards as well as the philosophy and ethics of science and scientific research related to hazards and disaster risk.
Ksenia Chmutina is a Reader in Sustainable and Resilience Urbanism at Loughborough University, UK. Her research focusses on the processes of urban disaster risk creation and systemic implications of sustainability and resilience in the context of neoliberalism. Ksenia uses her work to draw attention to the fact that disasters are not natural. Ksenia is a co-host of a popular podcast 'Disasters: Deconstructed'.
Dewald van Niekerk is Professor in Geography and the founder and head of the African Centre for Disaster Studies at North-West University. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal: Jàmbá Journal of Disaster Risk Studies. His research interests include resilience thinking, complexity, anticipation and disaster risk governance. Dewald is a South African B3 NRF rated researcher.
Emmanuel Raju is the Director of The Copenhagen Centre for Disaster Research (COPE) and an Associate Professor of Disaster Risk Management at the Global Health Section at the University of Copenhagen. He is also an 'Extraordinary Associate Professor', at North-West University, South Africa. His research interests include urban disaster risk creation; disaster recovery processes; and the intersections of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Emmanuel is also the Co-Editor of Disaster Prevention and Management journal.
Victor Marchezini has studied the sociology of disasters in Latin America and Caribbean since 2004 (https: //victormarchezini.weebly.com/). He worked as disaster risk analyst in the monitoring room of the Brazilian Warning Center (Cemaden) (2012-2014). Since 2014 he has worked as researcher at Cemaden, bridging scientists, practitioners, communities and policymakers. One result of this collective effort was the free e-book entitled Reduction of Vulnerability to Disasters: From Knowledge to Action. Victor is also professor at the Doctorate Program on Earth System Science at the National Institute for Space Research (CCST/INPE), and at the Postgraduate Program on Disaster Science (ICT/UNESP). Twitter account: @VMarchezini.
Jake Rom D. Cadag is a Professorial Lecturer at the Department of Geography of the University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines. My professional specialties and research interests include disaster risk reduction and management, climate change adaptation and spatial mapping (i.e. cartography, geographic information system). I am skilled in community work and conduct of participatory methods and tools involving different stakeholders and community members particularly marginalized sectors (i.e. gender and ethnic minorities, older people, children and people with disabilities, among others).
JC Gaillard is Professor of Geography at 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 ethnic and gender minorities, prisoners, children and homeless people. More details from: https: //jcgaillard.wordpress.com.
