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Towards a Taxonomy of Disasters

Emergency Planning

While not independent of the magnitude of physical forces involved, it is not linearly related to them because it depends on the nature and size of the vulnerabilities that the physical forces act upon. The next question is where to draw the boundaries in the study of disasters and practice of disaster risk reduction.

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Haiti: has there been progress in disaster reduction since the last big earthquake?

Emergency Planning

A changing situation The eminent anthropologist Anthony Oliver-Smith argued [vi] that in Haiti colonialism has left an enduring legacy of vulnerability to disasters. In his words, "the colonial institutions’ assiduous extraction of surpluses left the population both destitute and vulnerable to hazards for centuries to come."

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Disasters: Knowledge and Information in the New Age of Anomie

Emergency Planning

Vast resources are now devoted to distorting the picture, and all three superpowers are busy utilising them (Druzin and Gordon 2018, Merrin 2019, Rudick and Dannels 2019). Any attempt to relate the current anomie to disaster risk reduction (DRR) must take account of the 'egg hypothesis'. Gordon 2018. Alexander, D.E.