Everyday Disasters: Rethinking Iconic Events in Cultural Perspective

Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill-major disasters galvanize much attention and scrutiny. But acclaimed disaster researcher Gregory Button argues that, for each iconic event that looms large in the public consciousness, there are hundreds of shadow disasters: networks of conditions and linked events that make major calamities all too predictable. Button argues for a new approach to understanding and researching disasters, one that sees them not as isolated accidents but as processual phenomena that articulate fundamental organising principles of our culture. As catastrophes become more frequent and research findings on disasters grow, this book offers a crucial framework for researchers as well as journalists, policy makers, planners, environmentalists, and professionals in related fields.