Readings

WEEK # TOPICS READINGS
1

Introduction: From Risk to Resilience
 

JoAnn Carmin, MIT

White, G. F. "The Choice of Use in Resource Management." Natural Resource Journal 1 (1961): 23-40.

2

Disaster Vulnerability and Social Resilience

Mark Pelling, King's College

Pelling, Mark. "Assessing Urban Vulnerability and Social Adaptation to Risk: Evidence from Santo Domingo." International Development Planning Review 24, no. 1 (2002): 59-76.

Buy at Amazon ———. "Social Vulnerability in the City." Chapter 3 in The Vulnerability of Cities: Social Resilience and Natural Disaster. London, UK: Earthscan, 2003, pp. 46-67. ISBN: 1853838306.

Bull-Kamanga, L., K. Diagne, A. Lavell, E. Leon, F. Lerise, H. MacGregor, A. Maskrey, M. Meshack, M. Pelling, H. Reid, D. Satterthwaite, J. Songsore, K. Westgate, and A. Yitambe. "From Everyday Hazards to Disasters: The Accumulation of Risk in Urban Areas." Environment and Urbanization 15, no. 1 (2003): 193-203.

Review: Hyogo Declaration (PDF)

Review of the Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for a Safer World. (PDF)

Recommended

Buy at Amazon Pelling, Mark. "Natural Disasters?" In Social Nature. Edited by N. Castree, and B. Braun. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001, pp. 170-188. ISBN: 0631215689.

Reducing Disaster Risk: A Challenge for Development. UNDP, 2004. (Particularly chapter 2) (PDF - 3.9 MB)

3

Community Vulnerability Analysis

Jenny Suckale, Harvard University

Buy at Amazon Morrow, Betty H. "Targeting Households at Risk for Storms: Community Vulnerability Mapping." In Storms. Edited by R. Pielke, Jr., and R. Pielke, Sr. Vol. 1. London, UK: Routlege, 2000. ISBN: 0415212863.

Buy at Amazon Anderson, Mary B. "Vulnerability to Disaster and Sustainable Development: A General Framework for Assessing Vulnerability." In Storms. Edited by R. Pielke, Jr., and R. Pielke, Sr. Vol. 1. London, UK: Routlege, 2000. ISBN: 0415212863.

Nakagawa, Yuko, and Rajib Shaw. "Social Capital: A Missing Link to Disaster Recovery." Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 22, no. 1 (2004): 5-34.

Case Study Materials: Vanuatu Country Page.

Shorten, Graham G., and Susanne Schmall. "Disaster risk management in marginal communities of Port Vila, Vanuatu - Project Summary." SOPAC Miscellaneous Report 507. 2003.

Shorten, Graham G., ed. "Catastrophe Insurance Pilot Project, Port Vila, Vanuatu: Developing Risk-Management Options for Disasters in the Pacific Region - Project Summary." SOPAC Miscellaneous Report 550. 2003.

Recommended

Buy at Amazon Peacock, Walter G., and A. Kathleen Ragsdale. "Social Systems, Ecological Networks and Disasters." In Hurricane Andrew: Ethnicity, Gender and the Sociology of Disasters. Edited by W. G. Peacock, B. H. Morrow, and J. Gladwin. New York, NY: Routledge, 1997. ISBN: 0415168112.

4

Part 1: Climate Instability and Public Health

Paul R. Epstein, Harvard University

Part 2: Environment and War

Jennifer Leaning, Harvard University

Part 1: Climate Instability and Public Health

Epstein, Paul R. "Climate and Health." Science 285, no. 5426 (1999): 347-348.

———. "Is Global Warming Harmful to Health?" Scientific American (August 2000): 36-43.

Epstein, Paul R., and James J. McCarthy. "Assessing Climate Stability." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 86, no. 2 (2005): 1-8.

Epstein, Paul R., Henry F. Diaz, Scott Elias, Georg Grabherr, Nicholas E. Graham, Willem J. M. Martens, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, and Joel Susskind. "Biological and Physical Signs of Climate Change: Focus on Mosquito-borne Diseases." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 79, no. 3 (1998): 409-417.

5

Disaster Policy and Institutions

Rutherford H. Platt, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Buy at Amazon Platt, Rutherford. "Introduction: Disasters Before 1950," and Chapter 1, "Shouldering the Burden." In Disasters and Democracy. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1999, pp. 1-42. ISBN: 1559636963.

Walker, Peter, Ben Wisner, Jennifer Leaning, and Larry Minear. "Smoke and Mirrors: Deficiencies in Disaster Funding." BMJ 330 (2005): 247-250.

6

Transboundary Risk and Public Trust

Ragnar Loefstedt, King's College

Slovic, P. "Risk Perception." Science 236 (1987): 280-285.

Buy at Amazon Kasperson, J. X., and R. E. Kasperson. "Border Crossings." In Transboundary Risk Management. Edited by J. Linerooth-Bayer, R. E. Lofstedt, and G. Sjostedt. London, UK: Earthscan, 2001. ISBN: 1853835374.

Lofstedt, R. E. "Risk Communication: The Barseack Nuclear Plant Case." Energy Policy 24, no. 8 (1996): 689-696.

Buy at Amazon Lofstedt, R. E., and V. Jankauskas. "Swedish Aid and the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant." In Transboundary Risk Management. Edited by J. Linerooth-Bayer, R. E. Lofstedt, and G. Sjostedt. London, UK: Earthscan, 2001. ISBN: 1853835374.

Recommended

Slovic, P. "Perceived Risk, Trust and Democracy." Risk Analysis 13, no. 6 (1993): 675-682.

Burton, I, and R. W. Kates. "The Perception of Natural Hazards in Resource Management." Natural Resources Journal 3 (1964): 412-441.

7

Patterns of Social Vulnerability

Kathleen Tierney, University of Colorado-Boulder

Buy at Amazon Blaikie, P., T. Cannon, I. Davis, and B. Wisner. Chapter 2, "Disaster Pressure and Release Model," and Chapter 3, "Access to Resources and Coping in Adversity." In At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability, and Disasters. London, UK: Routledge, 1994. ISBN: 0415084776.

Buy at Amazon Morrow, Betty Hearn. "Stretching the Bonds: The Families of Andrew." In Hurricane Andrew: Ethnicity, Gender and the Sociology of Disasters. Edited by W. G. Peacock, B. H. Morrow, and J. Gladwin. London, UK: Routledge, 1997, pp. 14-170. ISBN: 0415168112.

Buy at Amazon Tierney, K., M. Lindell, and R. Perry. "Factors Influencing Disaster Preparedness and Response." Chapter 5 in Facing the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness and Response in the United States. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 2001. ISBN: 0309069998.

8

Disaster Politics and Agenda Setting

Thomas A. Birkland, SUNY Albany

Buy at Amazon Kingdon, John W. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1984, pp. 99-105. ISBN: 0673394557.

Birkland, Thomas A. "In the Wake of the Exxon Valdez: How Environmental Disasters Can Spur Policy Change." Environment 40, no. 7 (1998): 4-9, and 27-32.

———. "Focusing Events, Mobilization, and Agenda Setting." Journal of Public Policy 18, no. 1 (1998): 53-74.

Birkland, Thomas A., and Radhika Nath. "Business and the Political Dimension in Disaster Management." Journal of Public Policy 20, no. 3 (2000): 279-303.

9

Resilient Cities

Lawrence J. Vale, MIT

Buy at Amazon Vale, Lawrence J., and Thomas J. Campanella. "Introduction: The Cities Rise Again." and "Conclusion: Axioms of Resilience." In The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster. Edited by Lawrence J. Vale, and Thomas J. Campanella. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 0195175832.
10

Governance and Community Resilience

Toddi A. Steelman, North Carolina State University

Buy at Amazon Brunner, Ronald D. "Problems of Governance." In Finding Common Ground: Governance and Natural Resources in the American West. Edited by Ronald D. Brunner, Christine H. Colburn, Christina M. Cromley, Roberta A. Klein, and Elizabeth A. Olson. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002, pp. 1-47. ISBN: 0300091451.

Review the materials on "Community Responses to Wildland Fire Threats."

11

Threat, Error, and Resilience in High Hazard Settings

Jenny W. Rudolph, Boston University

Buy at Amazon Reason, J. Chapter 1 in Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1997, pp. 1-20. ISBN: 1840141050.

Staw, B. M., L. E. Sandelands, and J. E. Dutton. "Threat-Rigidity Effects in Organizational Behavior: A Multilevel Analysis." Administrative Science Quarterly 26 (1981): 501-524.

Buy at Amazon Rudolph, J. W., Steven S. Taylor, and Erica G. Foldy. "Collaborative Off-Line Reflection: A Way to Develop Skill in Action Science and Action Inquiry." In Handbook of Action Research. Edited by P. Reason, and H. Bradbury. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001, pp. 405-412. ISBN: 0761966455.

12

Disaster, Society, and Sustainability

JoAnn Carmin, MIT