American Disasters

By: Steven Biel (Editor)

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Hardcover | 1 December 2001

At a Glance

Hardcover
416 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 2.54

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"A provocative and illuminating collection" --Publishers Weekly Long after the dead have been buried, and lives and property rebuilt, the social and cultural impact of disasters lingers. Examining immediate and long term responses to such disasters as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and the Challenger explosion, American Disasters explores what natural and man made catastrophes reveal about the societies in which they occur. Ranging widely, essayists here examine the 1900 storm that ravaged Galveston, Texas, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the Titanic sinking, the Northridge earthquake, the crash of Air Florida Flight 90, the 1977 Chicago El train crash, and many other devastating events. These catastrophes elicited vastly different responses, and thus raise a number of important questions. How, for example did African Americans, feminists, and labor activists respond to the Titanic disaster? Why did the El train crash take on such symbolic meaning for the citizens of Chicago? In what ways did the San Francisco earthquake reaffirm rather than challenge a predominant faith in progress? Taken together, these essays explain how and why disasters are transformative, how people make sense of them, how they function as social dramas during which communities and the nation think aloud about themselves and their direction. Contributors include Carl Smith, Duane A. Gill, Ann Larabee, J. Steven Picou, and Ted Steinberg.

Industry Reviews

A provocative and illuminating collection.-- "Publishers Weekly"

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction History Regional & National History History of the Americas Society & Culture Social Issues & Processes Social Impact of Disasters / Accidents (Natural or Man-Made)Specific Events & Topics in History Social & Cultural History Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning The Environment Natural Disasters

Sociology & Anthropology

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Paperback

Published: 1st November 2001

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Introduction: On the Titanic Research and Recovery Expedition and the Production of Disasters	p. 1
Capital
"A Tempestuous Spirit Called Hurri Cano": Hurricanes and Colonial Society in the British Greater Caribbean	p. 11
"The Hungry Year": 1789 on the Northern Border of Revolutionary America	p. 39
What Comes Down Must Go Up: Why Disasters Have Been Good for American Capitalism	p. 72
Smoke and Mirrors: The San Francisco Earthquake and Seismic Denial	p. 103
Faith
Faith and Doubt: The Imaginative Dimensions of the Great Chicago Fire	p. 129
Distant Disasters, Local Fears: Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Revolution, and Passion in The Atlantic Monthly, 1880-84	p. 170
"Nothing Ends Here": Managing the Challenger Disaster	p. 197
Community
"It Must Be Made Safe": Galveston, Texas, and the 1900 Storm	p. 223
Chicago on the Brink: Media Trauma and the 1977 L-Train Crash	p. 247
The Day the Water Died: The Exxon Valdez Disaster and Indigenous Culture	p. 277
Possibility
"Unknown and Unsung": Feminist, African American, and Radical Responses to the Titanic Disaster	p. 305
"Piecing Together What History Has Broken to Bits": Air Florida Flight 90 and the PATCO Disaster	p. 339
The Exxon Valdez and Alaska in the American Imagination	p. 382
Contributors	p. 403
Permissions	p. 407
Index	p. 409
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

American Disasters

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

Other Editions and Formats

Paperback

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