Ebook of the Week - Disaster and the Politics of Intervention.

Andrew Lakoff, ed. Disaster and the Politics of Intervention. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. 

In Disaster and the Politics of Intervention, Andrew Lakoff edits and introduces a collection of five essays that make the collective point that government plays a critical role in mitigating individual and collective vulnerability to disaster, and the essay authors also explore the details of how this role has been and can be implemented.  The recent drive to replace public institutions with market mechanisms has challenged governmental efforts to manage collective risk. The contributors to this volume analyze the roles of the public and private sectors in the management of catastrophic risk, addressing questions such as: How should homeland security officials evaluate the risk posed by terrorist attacks and natural disasters? Are market-based interventions likely to mitigate our vulnerability to the effects of climate change? What is the appropriate relationship between non-governmental organizations and private security firms in responding to humanitarian emergencies? And how can philanthropic efforts to combat the AIDS crisis ensure ongoing access to life-saving drugs in the developing world? More generally, these essays explore the way thoughtful policy intervention can improve our capacity to withstand catastrophic events.

Previewed by John Breitmeyer.  Click here to read the book.