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Space and Culture
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What Makes a Disaster "Natural"?

Peter S. Alagona

University of California, Los Angeles

Natural disasters differ from unnatural disasters not so much in their causes or in their effects but primarily in our reaction to them. In natural disasters nature plays the role of a catalyst. Yet nature does not provide a convenient enemy to rally against and attack in retribution. This in part explains why, unlike the social and political unity that followed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, violence and political turmoil ensued in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Key Words: New Orleans • Hurricane Katrina • natural disasters • ideas of nature

Space and Culture, Vol. 9, No. 1, 77-79 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1206331205283727
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?