The Age of Catastrophe: Disaster and Humanity in Modern Times

Disasters, both natural and man-made, are on the rise. Indeed, a catastrophe of one sort or another seems always to be unfolding somewhere on this planet. We have entered into a veritable Age of Catastrophes which, in the 20th century, grew both larger and more complex, to the point where disasters are now routinely planetary in scale and scope. The old days of the geographically isolated industrial accidents, of the sinking of a Titanic or the explosion of a Hindenburg, together with their isolated causes and limited effects, is over. Now, disasters on the scale of Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil spill or the Japan tsunami and nuclear reactor accident, threaten to engulf the very order of civilization. This book analyzes the efforts of Westerners to keep the catastrophes outside, while maintaining order on the inside of society. These efforts are presently breaking down, as Nature and Civilization have become so intertwined they can no longer be clearly separated. Catastrophe is everywhere, and natural disasters, moreover, are becoming increasingly more difficult to differentiate from ""man-made.