Disasters

A Sociological Approach

By: Kathleen Tierney

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Paperback | 17 June 2025 | Edition Number 2

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336 Pages

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24.5 x 17.0 x 2.5

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Disasters kill, maim, and generate increasingly large economic losses. But they do not wreak their damage equally across nations and populations. Every disaster has social forces at its very core. This important book sheds light on the social conditions and the global, national, and local processes that produce environmental degradation and disaster.

Topics covered include the social roots of disaster vulnerability, exposure to natural hazards as a form of environmental injustice, and emerging threats. Written by a leading expert in the field, the book provides the necessary frameworks for understanding hazards and disasters, as it explores the contributions of various social science disciplines to disaster research and how these ideas have evolved over time. Bringing the social aspects of disasters to the forefront, Tierney discusses the challenge of conducting research in the aftermath of a disaster and critiques the concept of disaster resilience, which has come to be seen as a key to disaster risk reduction. This second edition places greater emphasis on climate-related disasters and offers new reflections on the impacts of Covid-19, additional material on the legacies of colonialism, and refreshed case studies.

Peppered with research findings and insights from a wide range of disciplines, this rich introduction is an invaluable resource for students and scholars interested in both the social nature of disasters and their relation to broader social forces.

Industry Reviews

“Kathleen Tierney is among the world’s leading disaster scholars. Her wide-ranging insights provide a tour de force on interdisciplinary disaster and hazards scholarship, ranging from its history, through foundational perspectives and theories, to concepts and practical explorations of vulnerability and resilience. She articulates the challenges facing societies today which not only produce risk but must now work towards reducing it equitably in a changing world. This book is a must read for any serious student of disasters and hazards.”
Susan L. Cutter, Department of Geography, University of South Carolina

“This is a very welcome new edition. It is clearly written and, although subtitled A Sociological Approach, a wide range of people from different disciplines will benefit greatly from it. The new edition has been thoroughly revised to put the theoretical content into a better sequence, and references to disasters (and literature) have been updated. It is still one of the most useful approaches to disaster studies.”
Terry Cannon, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, and Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction, UCL

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