Risk, Disaster, and Vulnerability: An Essay on Humanity and Environmental Catastrophe

by S. Ravi Rajan

Overview

Over the course of the past century, there has been a sustained reflective engagement about environmental risks, disasters, and human vulnerability in our modern industrial world. This inquiry has raised a host of crucial questions. Just how safe is humanity in a world of toxic chemicals and industrial installations that have destructive potential? Is it feasible to prevent large-scale catastrophes like the ones in Bhopal, Chernobyl, and Fukushima and smaller-scale disasters such as oil spills and gas leaks? How do environmental hazards affect social and political orders? S. Ravi Rajan expertly synthesizes decades of public policy and academic discourse on how societies measure and ultimately come to terms with risk, danger, and vulnerability and offers a fresh, humanistic perspective for grappling with the new global scale and interconnectedness of these threats.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520392625
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	07/18/2023
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

S. Ravi Rajan is Olga T. Griswold Chair and Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also directs the Global Environmental Justice Observatory and hosts the Liminal Spaces podcast.
 

Table of Contents

Contents

List of Figures 
Preface 
Acknowledgments 

1. Setting the Stage 
2. Risk 
3. Disaster 
4. Vulnerability 
5. Looking Ahead 

Bibliographic Essays 
Index