Summary
Contents
Subject index
This book presents a national-level analysis of disasters in the backdrop of the vulnerability of the Indian population. Offering an interdisciplinary perspective, it highlights that while conventional wisdom has persistently maligned ‘nature’ for disasters, majority of disasters in India are not due to ‘natural’ causes.
Vulnerable India: A Geographical Study of Disasters reconceptualizes the discourse on disaster and argues persuasively for the necessity of examining socio-economic vulnerability in relation to geography. With the aid of exhaustive research, comparative statistical analyses and data presented in the form tables and maps, it provides an incisive insight into 16 different disasters across 594 districts of the country. The author introduces new terms such as ‘disasterscape’, ‘disaster index’ and ‘vulnerability cluster’ for better understanding. Not only does she review traditional and modern perceptions of disasters in India, she also examines the representation of disasters in popular Indian cinema and provides a historical understanding of Indian perception of natural disasters and India's continuing failure to adequately contain damage to life and property.
This book will be extremely valuable to disaster research institutes and centers of disaster management studies. It is an ideal reference material for students of disaster management, environment science, environmental sociology, geography, development studies and social work.
Vulnerable India
Vulnerable India
It is a vulnerable India. To do justice to such a claim one needs to first explore the meaning of what is meant by vulnerability and then discern its applicability in the context of India. Vulnerability is the state of being vulnerable. The word vulnerable (Latin, vulnerabilis) finds its genesis in the Latin root vulnerare, meaning to wound. The French term vulnus also means wound. In short, to be vulnerable is to be assailable. Its synonyms like susceptible, foible, liable carry the nuance of being defenceless, strengthless, helpless, powerless and therefore the vulnerable are unable to protect themselves.
Words are not static. They keep changing over with time and so do their usage. They are not eternal and they may go out of ...
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