Introduction - Governing Disasters
Résumé
Hardly a week goes by without some “disaster” brief ly casting its
shadow over the television news headlines. Whether “natural,” “technological,”
or “sanitary,” these disasters are as remarkable for the cursory
manner in which they are discussed in the media as for their
brutal and unpredictable character and devastating consequences.
Although long marginal to the study of these distinctly exceptional
events — unfamiliar terrain for disciplines accustomed to focusing on
relatively stable phenomena — the social sciences have recently made
deep inroads into this field of study...