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Handbook of Disaster Research, edited by Havidán Rodriguez, Enrico L Quarantelli and Russell R. Dynes. New York, NY: Springer, 2006. 611pp. $249.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780387323312.
With 32 chapters, 51 contributors, 533 pages of text plus introduction, and a 70-page bibliography, the Handbook of Disaster Research provides a good summary of the current state of social scientific research on disasters. This is an important contribution to disaster research, providing a snapshot of various parts of the field and the field as a whole.
The first three chapters of the book deal with conceptual issues, focusing on the most basic issue of all-how to define "disaster." This question has been debated for decades, and while there are convergences among definitions, there is still no consensus in sight. In chapter 1, Perry gives a nice summary of types of definitions that have been developed, arguing cogently for the need for additional typological work on what constitutes a disaster. Quarantelli, Legadec and Boin (chapter 2) follow with a chapter that views "trans-system social ruptures" as constituting a new type of disaster, while Boin and 't Hart (chapter 3) consider conceptual differences and complementarities for the terms "crisis," defined as a collectively perceived threat, and disaster.
Chapters 4 and 5 discuss methodological issues in disaster research, including the use of GIS systems. Chapter 6 summarizes the impacts of different types of disasters on health. Chapters 7 and 8 deal with the important...