Full Description
This volume examines the history of natural disasters in the United States and the nation's ongoing struggles with long-term disaster preparedness and response. It explores the political, economic, and cultural factors that have shaped the country's vulnerability. It highlights why, despite its vast resources, the United States has remained one of the most resistant actors in recognizing and mitigating disaster risk.
Bringing together contributions from a variety of fields, this book analyzes the role of political institutions, media narratives, and cultural perceptions in shaping disaster policy. It examines key historical events to identify patterns of governance failure and missed opportunities to build resilience. Ultimately, this volume provides crucial insights into the historical baggage that the United States brings to multilateral climate negotiations, helping to explain its often frustrating role on the international stage.
This book is essential reading for students, researchers, and scholars in the social sciences, humanities, and environmental studies, as well as policymakers and practitioners seeking a deeper understanding of the challenges and shortcomings of U.S. disaster mitigation policy.
Chapter "'Becoming Green:' Resilient and Green Building as Risk Mitigation in Atlanta, Georgia" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Part I: Governance.- Chapter 2. Disaster Made Manifest: The Federal Role in U.S. Natural Disasters.- Chapter 3. Nature by Numbers: The National Flood Insurance Program.- Chapter 4. All of the Above: Energy, Environmental Politics, and U.S. Climate Change Policy since the 1970s Oil Crises.- Chapter 5. Letting Nature Do its Thing: Early Flood Control and Environmental Disaster along the Los Angeles River.- Part II: Representation and Perception.- Chapter 6. Hopeless Optimism: Framing Early 20th Century Earthquakes as News and History in the Making.- Chapter 7. Hurricanes and Theodicy in 20th and 21st Century American Protestantism.- Chapter 8. Through the Eyes of the White, Innocent Child: Whiteness, Vulnerability, and (Environmental) Crisis in Lauren Tarshi's I Survived Series.- Chapter 9. Reporting Catastrophes: Mainstream Media and Vulnerability to Disasters in the U.S..- Part III: Impact and Response.- Chapter 10. Multinational Insurers and Catastrophic Loss: Responses to the San Francisco Disaster of 1906.- Chapter 11. Oil Ports and Hurricanes along the Texas Gulf Coast.- Chapter 12. 'Becoming Green:' Resilient and Green Building as Risk Mitigation in Atlanta, Georgia.
