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Special issue of the journal Religion on "Religions, Natural Hazards, and Disasters"
From: JC Gaillard <Jean-Christophe.gaillard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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A special issue of the journal Religion on "Religions, Natural Hazards, and Disasters" has just been published as volume 40, issue 2, pp. 82-131: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0048721X
Abstract: The papers in this special issue of Religion develop a number of themes arising from the scarce literature available on religions, natural hazards, and disasters. They span four major religions, Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism, with a special emphasis on Southeast Asia. Chester and Duncan, along with Schlehe and Merli offer critical examinations of victims’ interpretation of disasters in Catholic, Muslim and Buddhist settings. Lindberg-Falk addresses post-disaster recovery and the role of religious practices. Dove shows how government policies in the face of natural hazards reflect state–citizen relationships. Finally, Wisner closes the issue with practical recommendations and offers perspectives for bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and policy. Authors provide field-based evidence which is of great help in enhancing our understanding of people’s behavior in the face of natural hazards and disasters. All authors advocate for a better and more sensitive understanding of the local contexts in which religions and religious practices intermingle with social, political and economic constraints. There is consensus also for considering religion as a resource rather than a hindrance in the planning of disaster risk-reduction policies. This special issue modestly contributes to the exploration of new grounds for the study of natural hazards and disasters. It further opens the debate on how to continue to improve disaster risk reduction in various religious settings. Hopefully, future studies will build on this contribution and further increase our understanding of people’s behavior in the face of natural hazards and thus help in reducing the occurrence of disasters.
Table of contents:
"Religions, natural hazards, disasters: an introduction"
by JC Gaillard and P. Texier (pp. 81-84)
"Responding to disasters within the Christian tradition, with reference to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes"
by David K. Chester and Angus M. Duncan (pp. 85-95).
"Recovery and Buddhist practices in the aftermath of the tsunami in Souther Thailand"
by M. Lindberg-Falk (pp. 96-103)
"Context-bound Islamic theodicities: the tsunami as supernatural retribution vs. natural catastrophe in Southern Thailand"
by C. Merli (pp. 104-111)
"Anthropology of religion: disasters and the representation of tradition and modernity"
by J. Schlehe (pp. 112-120)
"The panoptic gaze in a non-western setting: self-surveillance on Merapi volcano, Central Java"
by M.R. Dove (pp. 121-127)
"Untapped potential of the world's religious communities for disaster reduction in an age of accelerated climate change: an epilogue & prologue"
by B. Wisner (pp. 128-131)
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