Date, time	14 Feb, 13:15 - 15:00
Location	305
Teacher	Gustav Cederlöf
Slides	Click here to download lecture slides
Reading	Mandatory reading for this class (for suggested reading see below): Pelling, Mark. 2001. "Natural disasters?" In: Noel Castree & Bruce Braun (Eds.), Social nature: Theory, practice and politics, pp. 170–188. Oxford: Blackwell. Raju, Emmanuel, Emily Boyd, and Friederike Otto. 2022. "Stop blaming the climate for disasters." Communications Earth & Environment. doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00332-2.

Caption: A flooded neighbourhood in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 2005

Hurricane Katrina hit the southern shores of Louisiana in August 2005 with catastrophic human consequences, particularly for the region's Black communities. In a subsequent analysis, the geographer Neil Smith developed a vociferous critique of the events that had transpired. In doing so, he made a peculiar claim:

It is generally accepted ... that there is no such thing as a natural disaster. In every phase and aspect of a disaster – causes, vulnerability, preparedness, results and response, and reconstruction – the contours of disaster and the difference between who lives and who dies is to a greater or lesser extent a social calculus.

There is no doubt that the intensity of disasters are increasing due to climate change. But it is a fundamental insight, as Smith argues, that "there is no such thing as a natural disaster". In this lecture, we introduce perspectives on disasters that integrate the social and natural sciences to make sense of this claim.

Suggestions for additional reading