Disasterland: An Ethnography of the International Disaster Community - Sandrine Revet (2020)

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[...] Disasterland: An Ethnography of the International Disaster Community - Sandrine Revet (2020) REFERENCES Revet, S. (2020). Disasterland. An Ethnography of the International Disaster Community. Dans HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe). The book highlights a review of the solutions provided after the advent of disasters through the prism of international relations and perception by the international community. This involves producing a study describing the multiple actors, organizations and processes at work in the establishment of relief services and the delivery of aid in response to disasters. [...]

[...] The actors also deploy an impressive arsenal working as frontier entrepreneurs, intermediaries between worlds in order to limit tensions and promote collaboration. She also notes a quantitative increase in criticism addressed to the world of disasters for evaluating actions and relying on standardized frameworks, particularly submission to databases used for the coordination of stakeholders. [...]

[...] It highlights the growing dimension of the issues surrounding natural disasters and their perception at a global level. It strives to present the driving dynamics on a social, political or cultural scale for the definition of a common response and favoring the majority of interests. This second chapter reviews the stories, testimonies and experiences which relate this fragmentation of the world of disasters. The advent of devastating disasters has an impact not only on the daily lives of individuals but also on their real, practical and opposing vision of the world in which they operate. [...]

[...] In addition, it reviews the evolution and realization of the international world of disasters. It takes a look back at the timeline between the 1970s and today. Important milestones including the Sendai framework agreement on risk definition as well as the international recognition of disasters as requiring community responses and feedback are all elements worth mentioning. The proposed disaster processing and perception frameworks are scalable. Outside or because of society, taking responsibility makes it possible to assess the impact and the expected reaction to a disaster in a certain place in the world as an exploitation of resources and actors "progressing in the national or international hierarchy" (p.107). [...]

[...] In this sense the practices and opportunities surrounding disaster professionals make it possible to highlight the capacity to modify and adapt the discourse, favoring a naturalist approach while "denaturalizing" the disaster suffered. On the contrary, we must highlight the human and social dimensions to justify the intervention and the intention even if they "regretted the emphasis on the scientific and technological framing of the conference" (p.45). A chain of reactions then develops with an evolving process of responses following disasters. To begin with, we find the estimation and mobilization of resources. [...]