Recovering Disaster
July 11-13, 2019
The initial impact of Hurricane Camille tended not to discriminate. Everyone who was hit was hit hard. But later…it wasn’t the hurricane that differentiated; it was the various responding relief agencies that made politically motivated decisions…
Mark M. Smith, Camille 1969: Histories of a Hurricane (2011)
Hosted by Kathleen Lumley College, the postgraduate college of the University of Adelaide, this three-day interdisciplinary, international conference will examine historical and recent recovery efforts after natural and human-made environmental disasters. Going beyond the borders of an academic conference, we seek to engage across community outreach and social activism, as well as public policy.
From hurricanes to floods, to the toxic impact of nuclear explosions, while the initial impact is levelling, it is in the recovery effort that social, political and cultural distinctions rise to the surface, exposing prejudice and privilege alike.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
- The psycho-social impact of recovery on communities
- The politics of recovery and governmental roles
- Social privilege and recovery
- Intersections of race, gender, class and culture in representations of recovery
- After-lives of recovery: is recovery ever complete?
Keynote Speakers: Mark M. Smith (History, University of South Carolina) and Masami Yuki (Human and Socio-Environmental Studies, Kanazawa University).
We invite proposals for individual papers, panels or posters. Please send a 300-word abstract and one-page vita by December 15, 2018 to recoveringdisaster2019@gmail.com.
