Disasterland. An Ethnography of the International Disaster Community - Sandrine Revet

Cham, Palgrave Macmillan (The Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy), 2020, 236 p.
Translated by Cynthia Schoch and Katharine Throssell

This book analyses the making of the international world of ‘natural’ disasters by its professionals. Through a long-term ethnographic study of this arena, the author unveils the various elements that are necessary for the construction of an international world: a collective narrative, a shared language, and standardized practices. The book analyses the two main framings that these professionals use to situate themselves with regards to a disaster: preparedness and resilience, arguing that the making of the world of ‘natural’ disasters reveals how heterogeneous, conflicting, and sometimes competing elements are put together.

Translation of Les coulisses du monde des catastrophes « naturelles », published by Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme (Le (bien) commun) in Septembre 2018.