[URBANTH-L]Ideas for a globalization reader?
Mark A. Schuller
marky at umail.ucsb.edu
Thu Mar 6 09:10:50 EST 2008
Hi all,
Damn I hate doing this, but I'm one of the editors of a new volume
that just came out last Friday that discusses the theme of
globalization within a framework of disaster capitalism... apologies
for the self-promotion.
ANNOUNCING A NEW EDITED VOLUME
Capitalizing on Catastrophe: Neoliberal Strategies in Disaster Reconstruction
Alta Mira Press
Globalization and the Environment Series
Edited by Nandini Gunewardena & Mark Schuller
Foreward by Alex de Waal
February 2008
In Capitalizing on Catastrophe an international group of scholars and
professionals critically examine how local communities around the
world have prepared for and responded to recent cataclysms. The book's
principal focus is the increasing trend to rely on the private sector
to deal with natural disasters and other forms of large-scale
devastation, from hurricanes and tsunamis to civil wars and industrial
accidents. Called "disaster capitalism" by its critics, the tendency
to contract private interests to solve massive, urgent public problems
may be inevitable but is extremely problematic--especially with
respect to peoples who need help the most. Can private relief groups
give the highest priority to potential and actual victims of large
disasters, for example, if that means devoting fewer resources to
protecting tourism and other profitable industries? The high-profile
contributors to this volume straightforwardly tackle such timely and
difficult questions of great public concern. Cases include Hurricane
Katrina, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, military intervention in
Afghanistan, tropical storms in Caribbean nations such as Honduras and
Belize, political turmoil in Haiti and Guatemala, the 9/11 attacks,
and the Bhopal gas leak.
List of Contributors
Sara E. Alexander, Gregory Button, Bettina Damiani, Antonio Donini,
Elizabeth Guillette, Nandini Gunewardena, Wahneema Lubiano, Anthony
Oliver-Smith, Adolph Reed Jr, Anna Belinda Sandoval Girón, Mark
Schuller, Susan Stonich
"Moralized discourse served as a protective bubble that provided
immunity from rigorous analysis. That bubble has burst, but only on
the top floor of the ivory tower. The overwhelming majority of media
coverage and academic writing remains entrapped in an untheorized
consensus that relief and rehabilitation are good things beyond
rebuke. Capitalizing on Catastrophe is an important exercise in
scholarship. It brings the phenomenon of neoliberal disaster
capitalism into sharp focus, defining the field in a theoretical and
comparative manner and exploring some important case studies. This
book is also an essential exercise in framing an emergent public
policy issue." Alexander de Waal, Harvard University, from the Foreword
"Capitalizing on Catastrophe critically examines the motivations and
agendas that fuel the political will to act in the name of
humanitarian assistance to the large-scale crises and human tragedies
of our times. Using diverse examples of disaster from around the
world, the authors tease apart the complex continuum of causality,
response, and consequence--asking the basic questions of who pays, who
profits, and to what effect. In so doing, they put a human face to
disaster response, and that face is not a pretty one. Nandini
Gunewardena and Mark Schuller have pulled together an incredibly
strong collection of case studies, framed in a sharp and clear
analysis with pragmatic suggestions for change. In a world of
escalating chaos and misery, this collection offers the reader a
useful tool to assess recent experiences. More importantly,
Capitalizing on Catastrophe offers pragmatic strategies to emphasize
human needs in humanitarian response." Barbara Rose Johnston, Center
for Political Ecology, Santa Cruz
"This is a stunning book that builds on, and extends, previous
research on disaster, social vulnerability, and reconstruction. The
contributors discuss social vulnerability and neoliberalism, disaster
capitalism, humanitarian issues, and cultural data sets from around
the world. The book provides a rich combination of ethnography and
theory." Linda M. Whiteford, University of South Florida
The book is now in print, being processed in the warehouse. If people
want the 25% discount, they can pre-order the book now by visiting the
website:
http://www.altamirapress.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0759111030&thepassedurl=[thepassedurl]
p.s. I find Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing's "Friction" really useful as well.
John Schaefer <johnschaefer at mail.utexas.edu> wrote:
> Susan, if you could compile the results and repost them to the list
> I think many
> of us would be interested. For example, I had dismissed this one by Inda and
> Rosaldo as being outdated, but now that it's in its 2nd edition, what's the
> verdict from the hive mind?
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Anthropology-Globalization-Reader-Blackwell-Readers/dp/140513612X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204748187&sr=1-3
>
> Thanks,
> John.
>
> Quoting susan mazur <susanmazur at hotmail.com>:
>
>> I'd like to consult the anthro hive mind - does anybody have suggestions for
>> course reader in a class on Globalization and Culture Change? I'd love to
>> include a gamut from older robust theory to latest cutting edge.
>> The class is
>> upper division, but I'd like the material to be more accessible than not.
>> Please email me at susanmazur at hotmail.com
>>
>> Thanks! Susan Mazur-Stommen, Ph.D. PrincipalIndicia Consulting: Measurable
>> results for your
>> business951.687.8661_______________________________________________
>> URBANTH-L mailing list
>> URBANTH-L at lists.ysu.edu
>> http://lists.ysu.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/urbanth-l
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> URBANTH-L mailing list
> URBANTH-L at lists.ysu.edu
> http://lists.ysu.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/urbanth-l
>
-Mark Schuller
More information about the URBANTH-L
mailing list