Analyses the impact of the 2015 Nepal earthquakes and the need to understand disasters in their cultural and political context.

"Nepal, a country with a population of approximately 30 million, is located between the rapidly emerging economic powers of India and China, which compete for influence within it. In 2006 Nepal emerged from a ten-year civil war between the monarchical state and Maoist rebels which had cost over 16,000 lives, and was still engaged in a protracted process of political transition to a federal, secular, democratic republic when, on 25 April 2015, its central districts were struck by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake which killed over 8000 people and displaced 2.8 million. A second quake, of magnitude 7.3, struck on 12 May, leading to further devastation. Epicentre to Aftermath aims to make both empirical and conceptual contributions to the growing body of Disaster Studies literature by providing detailed, field research-based insights into Nepal's experience following these earthquakes. By adopting an inductive approach and focusing on a particular post disaster situation, this book will provide an analysis of a disaster aftermath that is steeped in the political and cultural complexities of its social and historical context. Drawing together a range of scholars - ethnographers, geographers, historians, literary critics, political scientists, art historians - the book examines the consequences of the 2015 quakes from a host of perspectives that highlight the political, historical, cultural, artistic, emotional, temporal, embodied, and material dynamics at play. It suggests a new epistemology of disaster consequences and their meanings. By approaching the 2015 Nepal earthquakes from a wide range of analytical and methodological perspectives, it expands the field of knowledge relevant to understanding disasters and their outcomes"--

Considerations of the effect of trauma on heritage sites.

Risk and Crisis Management in the Public Sector 3rd edition is a guide for public managers and public management students which combines practical and scholarly knowledge about risk and crisis management together in a single accessible text. In the uncertainty of the twenty-first century, public managers need to know how to identify risks and plan for crises, how to respond to uncertain events and emergencies and how to develop resilience. This book provides this fundamental knowledge with reference to a range of contemporary cases including COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and global cyber-crime crises. It also explores the international, transboundary and multi-agency dimensions of risk and crisis management. This fully updated new edition explores the cutting edge of risk and crisis management scholarship, provides an extensive series of tools and practical guidance for public managers who deal with uncertainty and draws on a wealth of classic and contemporary case studies. This content equips readers and public managers with the knowledge and skills to understand key issues and debates, as well as the capacity to treat risks and better prepare for, respond to and recover from crisis episodes. This book is essential reading for students studying public management, risk management and crisis management as well as professionals in the public management sector.

Tapping into dusty national archives, a retired career officer who taught history at the Royal Military College of Canada analyzes a landmark, yet little studied, event in Canadian history. Armstrong chronicles a classic case of government bungling and cover-up following the 1917 collision of two Allied warships in Halifax Harbor, which killed some 1,600 persons and razed much of the city. Includes maps and photographs. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in late 2002 and 2003 challenged the global public health community to confront a novel epidemic that spread rapidly from its origins in southern China until it had reached more than 25 other countries within a matter of months. In addition to the number of patients infected with the SARS virus, the disease had profound economic and political repercussions in many of the affected regions. Recent reports of isolated new SARS cases and a fear that the disease could reemerge and spread have put public health officials on high alert for any indications of possible new outbreaks. This report examines the response to SARS by public health systems in individual countries, the biology of the SARS coronavirus and related coronaviruses in animals, the economic and political fallout of the SARS epidemic, quarantine law and other public health measures that apply to combating infectious diseases, and the role of international organizations and scientific cooperation in halting the spread of SARS. The report provides an illuminating survey of findings from the epidemic, along with an assessment of what might be needed in order to contain any future outbreaks of SARS or other emerging infections.

This book renews the Marxian theory of the general equivalent by highlighting the contradiction between the social functions of money (unit of account, means of circulation) and its private functions (store of value, accumulation). It draws a clear distinction between the monetary base and the commodity base of money and thus avoids the confusion between money and credit on the one hand, and money and capital on the other, which are found in other heterodox monetary theories. It accounts for the new forms of monetary constraints weighing on the banking systems under and inconvertible fiat money standard, the class relationships underlying the interventions of monetary authorities and governments, and presents a definition of the state which emphasises its mode of intervention on the collective and social conditions of capitalisms which are money and labour power. The emphasis on the contradiction between these two types of monetary functions gives a more fundamental account of the conflict between the international role and the national origin of the dollar than the Triffin dilemma, which has been constantly overcome or deferred by the US since 1960. The author explains this evolution by demonstrating how, from the 1950s onwards, the dollar began a process of acquiring relative autonomy from the US economy. By focusing on the role and international functions of the dollar, he offers a fresh look at the 2008 crisis and its consequences for the international monetary system, but also for a possible post-capitalist financial system – which post-revolutionary Russia experimented with in the form of the NEP, and whose contemporary implementation is foreshadowed by the rise of digital central bank currencies. The book thereby provides a necessary update to the tools and concepts inherited from Marx for analysing and understanding money, capital and the state.

Once merely a footnote in Restoration and eighteenth-century studies and rarely taught, Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave (1688), by Aphra Behn, is now essential reading for scholars and a classroom favorite. It appears in general surveys and in courses on early modern British writers, postcolonial literature, American literature, women's literature, drama, the slave narrative, and autobiography. Part 1 of this volume, "Materials," provides not only resources for the teacher of Oroonoko but also a brief chronology of Behn's life and work. In part 2, "Approaches," essays offer a diversity of perspectives appropriate to a text that challenges student assumptions and contains not one story but many: Oroonoko as a romance, as a travel account, as a heroic tragedy, as a window to seventeenth-century representations of race, as a reflection of Tory-Whig conflict in the time of Charles II.

Breathtaking, powerful, and all-encompassing in its sheer scope and visual impact, Ocean sweeps you away on an incredible journeyinto the depths of our astonishing marine world. As the site where life first formed on Earth, a key element of the climate, and a fragile resource, oceans areof vital importance to our planet. This is a definitive visual guide to the world's oceans - including the geological and physical processes that affectthe ocean floor, the key habitat zones, the rich diversity of marine life.

In a world where the relentless force of natural and man-made disasters threatens societies, the need for effective disaster management has never been more critical. Predicting Natural Disasters With AI and Machine Learning addresses the challenges of disasters and charts a path toward proactive solutions by applying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). This book begins by interpreting the nature of disasters, clearly distinguishing between natural and man-made hazards. It delves into the intricacies of disaster risk reduction (DRR), emphasizing the human contribution to most disasters. Recognizing the necessity for a multifaceted approach, the book advocates the four ‘R’s - Risk Mitigation, Response Readiness, Response Execution, and Recovery - as integral components of comprehensive disaster management. This book explores various AI and ML applications designed to predict, manage, and mitigate the impact of natural disasters, focusing on natural language processing, and early warning systems. The contrast between weak AI, simulating human intelligence for specific tasks, and strong AI, capable of autonomous problem-solving, is thoroughly examined in the context of disaster management. Its chapters systematically address critical issues, including real-world data handling, challenges related to data accessibility, completeness, security, privacy, and ethical considerations.