Hardback - £125.00

Publication date:

16 April 2009

Length of book:

366 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

Dimensions:

238x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780759113091

Throughout history, societies have had to decide whom to "sacrifice" and whom to help in times of disaster. This volume examines how elite groups attempt to maintain power through the use of particular economic, political, and ideological instruments and how both ruling elites and common people endeavor to create meaningful traditions while enduring hardship.The Political Economy of Hazards and Disasters demonstrates how vulnerability is economically constructed, primary producers adapt their production regimes, how traders and merchants adapt their practices, and how political economic objectives play out in recovery efforts.
This book engages the reader by providing two novel perspectives on disaster response tailored to an anthropological audience. First, the chapters present a broad perspective on the culture of response as seen through the lenses of diverse case studies based on archaeological, biological, cultural anthropological, and even linguistic data. The chapters also go beyond a consideration of economic and political factors in the analysis of disaster responses by documenting the impacts of disasters on the daily lives of ordinary persons.