Kathleen Tierney

The Social Roots of Risk

Producing Disasters, Promoting Resilience

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Rather than acts of God or random acts of nature, The Social Roots of Risk argues that hazards, disasters, and crises of all sorts are produced by the social order itself-that the routine activities of institutions, organizations, and groups invite risk into our lives and put us in harms way.

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Produktdetails

• High Reliability and Crisis Management
• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 320
• Erscheinungstermin: 23. Juli 2014
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 228mm x 151mm x 22mm
• Gewicht: 476g
• ISBN-13: 9780804791397
• ISBN-10: 0804791392
• Artikelnr.: 40449955

Autorenporträt

Kathleen Tierney is Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Director of its Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center.

Inhaltsangabe

The Social Roots of Risk: Producing Disasters, Promoting Resilience
Author(s): Kathleen Tierney
book abstract
Rather than being acts of God or random acts of nature, risks and disasters
are produced by the social order itself-that is, by the activities of
institutions and organizations that push for economic growth, oppose
risk-reducing regulations, and succeed in transferring disaster losses to
other parties. The forces that drive the social production of risk at the
community level include influence wielded over governmental entities to
permit development in hazardous areas and patterns of environmental
injustice that make some groups more vulnerable than others. At the
organizational level, risks proliferate as a result of organizational
cultures that prioritize production over safety; regulatory capture; and
factors such as organizational size and complexity, which inhibit effective
risk management. The profits that come from risk-producing activities are
privatized, while the costs are borne by disaster victims, taxpayers, and
future generations. Like risk, disaster resilience also emerges from the
social order. Inherent resilience, or the ability to resist
disaster-related damage and disruption, is a property of both physical and
social systems. Adaptive resilience comes into play after disasters, as
social systems improvise and adapt. Social capital is an important
contributor to both inherent and adaptive resilience. Groups that otherwise
would be considered vulnerable to disasters can become more resilient when
they develop networks of support and when they can access needed resources,
including political power. However, intervening in the processes that
generate risk and produce disasters will be difficult because powerful
political and economic interests drive those processes.
1Risking More, Losing More: Thinking About Risk and Resilience
chapter abstract
This chapter begins with the observation that major disasters are becoming
more frequent and severe worldwide, particularly since the dawn of the
twenty-first century. In the last few years, the world has experienced a
proliferation of disasters of catastrophic proportions, including Hurricane
Katrina, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the BP oil spill disaster, and the 2011
earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant meltdowns in Japan. The organizing
principle of the book is introduced, which is that the forces driving the
production of ever-larger disasters are embedded in the social order
itself, rather than in nature or technology. The chapter introduces the
concept of disaster resilience, noting that like risk, resilience is the
outcome of social structure and social processes.
2Looking Back: The Evolution of How We Talk About Risk
chapter abstract
The chapter opens with a discussion of three key concepts: risk, hazard,
and vulnerability. It moves to a discussion of trends and themes in risk
research, which has focused mostly on risk perception. The study of risk
perception has gone through several stages. Research on the cognitive
heuristics that play a role in risk perception was followed by studies on
attributes of different risks that affect public perceptions, such as their
unfamiliarity and the fact that some risks are imposed, rather than
voluntarily assumed. Later, researchers focused on social factors that
affect risk perception, such as race and gender, as well as on the manner
in which emotions influence views on risk. Flaws have been identified in
this "psychometric" approach. While concentrating extensively on the
perception of risk, earlier scholarship has neglected the important
question of how risk is socially produced.
3A Different Perspective: The Social Production of Risk
chapter abstract
This chapter moves from considering how risks are perceived to how risks
are produced. Discussions first consider Ulrich Beck's "risk society"
thesis, which ties the expansion of risk to societal conditions associated
with late modernity. Beck's research has invited criticism, in part because
of his assumption that present-day risks are historically unique and
construed as the consequence of human decision making, while earlier
disasters were seen as attributable to God or nature. The idea that
disasters are socially produced-as opposed to being caused by natural
forces-is a foundational principle of contemporary disaster research. Risk
buildup resulting in disasters is the consequence of social forces that
operate at global, national, institutional, network, and smaller-scale
levels of analysis. Cultural factors are also important in shaping both
views on risk and subsequent behaviors. Explaining how disasters occur
requires attention to factors that operate at interrelated levels of
analysis.
4Culture and the Production of Risk
chapter abstract
Scholars from various fields have analyzed the cultural dimensions of risk.
Social constructionism provides a lens through which to view how societies
perceive and deal with risks, as do analyses of frames. Pierre Bourdieu's
scholarship also offers insights into how taken-for-granted cultural
systems operate, which can be applied to the study of risk. Cultural
assumptions contributing to risk buildup include taken-for-granted ideas
about the importance of growth and job creation-ideas that are virtually
impossible to challenge. The role of cultural assumptions in promoting
risky behavior is discussed in case studies focusing on massively tall
skyscrapers in different cities and on financial engineering.
5Organizations, Institutions, and the Production of Risk
chapter abstract
This chapter focuses primarily on organizations, networks, and their
contributions to risk buildup. Following sociologist Charles Perrow's work,
risks expand in part because of concentrations of various kinds: of
hazardous activities; of populations in hazardous areas; and of political
and economic power that enables those who possess it to operate with
impunity. Forces that contribute to the occurrence of disasters include
regulatory capture and rent seeking. Following Perrow's "normal accidents"
theory, the chapter highlights the role of structural features like tight
coupling and interactive complexity in disasters. The immense complexity of
many industrial and bureaucratic organizations and the distortion of
communication processes it engenders militate against sensemaking in
everyday operations but especially during crises. The production pressures
that characterize industrial operations in contemporary societies
constitute another source of danger. Organizational size and complexity
make it difficult to detect precursors of impending disaster.
6Communities and Societies at Risk
chapter abstract
This chapter focuses on risk production at the community, societal, and
global scale. At the community level, sources of escalating risks and
disasters include "growth machine" politics; rent seeking; lax enforcement
of building codes; and efforts to lift restrictions on development in
high-hazard areas. At all levels of analysis, political and economic forces
shape levels of disaster vulnerability. Such forces include poverty and
income inequality, social marginalization, and lack of political power.
Socially-structured vulnerabilities within the world system are responsible
for large-scale life loss in less developed countries. Such vulnerabilities
are the result of political-economic forces that include rapid
urbanization, the growth of slums, poverty, environmental degradation, and
governance failures. Discussions focus on risk buildup in various settings:
South Dade County (FLA), Natomas (CA), Caracas, Manila, and other
communities.
7Defining Resilience in Relation to Risk
chapter abstract
The concept of disaster resilience has achieved prominence and has been
incorporated into discourses on disaster loss reduction, international and
national policies, and research agendas. With origins in diverse academic
disciplines, the concept of resilience is applicable to natural, physical,
and social systems. The chapter reviews the concept's origins and efforts
to measure it within the disaster arena. Resilience is generally
conceptualized as including both properties that create resistance to
disaster, and such that enable affected structures and systems to bounce
back or adapt following disasters. Those properties are termed inherent and
adaptive resilience, respectively. The chapter discusses sources of
inherent resilience, emphasizing it can be measured, and its contribution
to "community capitals," particularly social capital. The community of
Grand Bayou, LA is discussed as an example of how otherwise vulnerable
communities can build up social capital and enhance their resilience.
8Adaptive Resilience in the Face of Disasters
chapter abstract
Adaptive resilience represents a blending of planned and unplanned
activities that seek to overcome the surprises disasters generate.
Disasters always contain unexpected elements, calling for agility and
innovation. Resilient social responses include the convergence of personnel
and resources into stricken areas, structural and task-related changes in
organizations responding to disasters, and the emergence of new groups and
networks. The chapter discusses the activities of emergent groups and
networks in a number of major disaster events. Also discussed are
post-disaster improvisational activity and the conditions that make it
possible for organizations to improvise. Insights into the roots of
adaptive resilience also come from research on jazz improvisation and on
high-reliability organizations. The chapter closes with discussions on the
ways in which social capital contributes to resilient disaster recovery,
the importance of the ability to adapt following disasters, and how the
"critical civic infrastructure" contributes to disaster resilience.
9Looking Ahead: A Move Toward Safety, or More of the Same?
chapter abstract
This chapter recapitulates arguments made in preceding chapters. It also
explores a conundrum that risk researchers must consider: while efforts are
made to increase resilience to hazards, the forces that cause risks to
proliferate are also resilient. It asks whether efforts to increase
disaster resilience are too incremental and come at the expense of the
genuine societal transformations. Risk and power are related; powerful
actors have the ability to create and exacerbate risks with impunity.
Because disaster-related risks are produced by broader societal dynamics,
efforts to reduce disaster impacts originating from within the disaster
loss-reduction establishment will ultimately have little effect.
Confronting hegemonic power will necessitate changes in legislation,
stronger sanctions against entities that contribute to disasters, the
application of economic sanctions against those responsible for risk
buildup, naming and shaming violators, and action on the part of social
movements.