The Sociology of Katrina: Perspectives on a Modern Catastrophe / Edition 2

by David L. Brunsma Virginia Tech, David Overfelt, Steven J. Picou, Carl L. Bankston III, John Barnshaw

Overview

The second edition of The Sociology of Katrina brings together the nation's top sociological researchers in an effort to deepen our understanding of the modern catastrophe that is Hurricane Katrina. Five years after the storm, its profound impact continues to be felt.

This new edition explores emerging themes, as well as ongoing issues that continue to besiege survivors. The book has been updated and revised throughout—from data about recovery efforts and environmental conditions, to discussions of major social issues in education, health care, the economy, and crime. The authors thoroughly review the important topic of recovery, both in New Orleans and in the wider area of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This new edition features a new chapter focused on the Katrina experience for people in the primary impact area, or "ground zero," five years after the storm. This chapter uncovers many challenges in overcoming the critical problems caused by the storm of the century.

From this important update of the acclaimed first edition, it is apparent that "the storm is not over," as Katrina continues to generate political, economic, community, and personal controversy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442206274
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/16/2010
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	390
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

David L. Brunsma is associate professor of sociology at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
David Overfelt is a graduate of sociology at the University of Missouri at Columbia and a member of Sociologists Without Borders.
J. Steven Picou is professor of sociology and chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables
Foreword by Kai Erikson
Preface to the First Edition by David L. Brunsma
Preface to the Second Edition by David L. Brunsma
Introduction: Katrina as Paradigm Shift: Reflections on Disaster Research in the Twenty-First Century
Part I: Framing Katrina: Context and Construction
Chapter 1: Finding and Framing Katrina: The Social Construction of Disaster
Chapter 2: Disaster as War: Militarism and the Social Construction of Disaster in New Orleans
Chapter 3: Crime and Hurricanes in New Orleans
Part II: Experiencing Evacuation
Chapter 4: Families and Hurricane Response: Risk, Roles, Resources, Race, and Religion: A Framework for Understanding Family Evacuation Strategies, Stress, and Return Migration
Chapter 5: Race, Class, and Capital amidst the Hurricane Katrina Diaspora
Chapter 6: Understanding Community-Based Disaster Response: Houston's Religious Congregations and Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
Part III: Ongoing Disaster: Reaction and Recovery
Chapter 7: Community Recovery from Hurricane Katrina: Storm Experiences, Property Damage, and the Human Condition
Chapter 8: After the Levees Broke: Reactions of College Students to the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Chapter 9: Landscapes of Disaster and Place Orientation in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Chapter 10: Using Research to Inform and Build Capacity Among Community-Based Organizations: Four Years of Gulf Coast Recovery Following Hurricane Katrina
Chapter 11:Rebuilding New Orleans Neighborhoods after Hurricane Katrina: Toward a Theory of Social Structure and Cultural Creativity
Part IV: Postdisaster Institutional Change
Chapter 12: Disaster Impacts on Education: Hurricane Katrina and the Adaptation and Recovery of New Orleans-Area Colleges and Universities
Chapter 13: Heath Needs, Health Care, and Katrina
Chapter 14: Immigration, Reconstruction and Settlement: Hurricane Katrina and the Emergence Immigrant Communities
Postscript: Considering Katrina
Appendix Tables
References
Index
About the Editors and Contributors

What People are Saying About This

Craig Calhoun

The 'natural' disaster of Hurricane Katrina was also a major sociological event. Issues of who suffered most, the way damage was assessed, how response organized and the nature of the rebuilding effort were all shaped by social factors. This book gives an important overview, addressing concerns from the role of race and class in shaping impact to the role of religion in shaping response. It will be useful to students and researchers and should be read widely as Americans try to learn from the Katrina catastrophe.

Raymond Murphy

This second edition constitutes further in depth learning from the most destructive collision in American history between nature's hazard and socially constructed vulnerability, knowledge that is essential as societies head toward more confrontations.

Editorial Reviews

The 'natural' disaster of Hurricane Katrina was also a major sociological event. Issues of who suffered most, the way damage was assessed, how response organized and the nature of the rebuilding effort were all shaped by social factors. This book gives an important overview, addressing concerns from the role of race and class in shaping impact to the role of religion in shaping response. It will be useful to students and researchers and should be read widely as Americans try to learn from the Katrina catastrophe.

Craig Calhoun

Praise for the first edition:

This book brings together the nation's top sociological researchers in an effort to catalogue the modern catastrophe that is Katrina. Included are discussions of sociological perspectives of disaster literature, alternative views and analyses of early post-storm data collection efforts, and emerging social questions that have surfaced in the aftermath of Katrina. All royalties from the sale of this book go to the Disaster Relief Fund of the Southern Sociological Society.

Natural Hazards Observer

This second edition constitutes further in depth learning from the most destructive collision in American history between nature's hazard and socially constructed vulnerability, knowledge that is essential as societies head toward more confrontations.

Raymond Murphy

From so many vantage points come clear and well formulated descriptions and analyses of Katrina and the consequences — many of them dire — of this unnatural event. Anyone who wants to know about Katrina, or indeed disaster of any sort, needs to read this important and authoritative book.

Harvey Molotch

The book is a collection of papers presented at the 2006 Southern Sociological Society meeting in New Orleans, updated with new chapters added for this second edition in 2010.

Solidarity