Comparative Emergency Management: Examining Global and Regional Responses to Disasters

[The editors are extending the deadline for this call to seek potential chapter contributions with a primary focus on the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and the South Pacific Regions]

Comparative Emergency Management: Examining Global and Regional Responses to Disasters

DeMond Miller, Rowan University, USA and Jason Rivera, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, USA

Publisher: Auerbach/Taylor and Francis Publishers

Comparative Emergency Management: Examining Global and Regional Responses to Disasters, an edited volume, will encompass a dialogue regarding the impact of natural and human-induced disasters. The book will illustrate how initiating long-term regional collaborations on issues of natural disaster risk reduction and hazard risk management help build resiliency. Its main objectives are to 1) take stock of the current status of disaster management systems across regions and countries, 2) promote an integrated approach to disaster risk reduction and 3) encourage new synergies and partnerships between governments to better address disaster prevention. The book will also provide an opportunity for participants to discuss future needs and priorities in an effort to strengthen disaster risk reduction in their respective countries and the region as a whole.

The importance of this work brings together scholarship on how regional leaders and collaborations work to ensure the safety of residents during times of disaster while breaking down barriers that effect regional redevelopment within a country or among countries within a region. A common theme anchoring this book is its focus on how social, cultural, historical, scientific, and political barriers are removed as each partnership is forged in order to improve the lives and well being of people working together toward reducing vulnerability to disasters. Moreover, with the seemingly endless occurrence of catastrophes, including natural disasters, unfortunate large-scale accidents, and socially induced terrors, such as war and mass terror, nation-states are finding it more and more difficult to address and resolve problems without forging regional and sometimes international global coalitions to reduce their vulnerabilities to threats. These catastrophes, when they strike, test the resolve and capabilities within a country or a region, but also allow for trans-national cooperation to take place in order to address the problems. Comparative Regional Responses to Catastrophe: Examining Global and Regional Responses to Disasters focuses on recovery from disaster with the use of geo-political partnerships, in addition to international private/non-profit and public partnerships within geographic regions working together in a transparent way to craft opportunities for regional responsiveness and increased resistance to calamity.

Chapter proposals in reference to the following topics are being accepted in the following areas (please feel free to contact the editors at millerd@rowan.edu if you wish to propose other ideas for a chapter topic):

Addressing Global/Regional Health Pandemics (e.g. SARS, Ebola, mad cow disease)

Environmental Contamination

Demographics, Migration, and Refugees/Evacuees

Educational Strategies

Global Collaborations to Stop Terror

Post-War Regions or Regions in Continual Conflict

Regional Collaborations in Asia, the Americas, Australia/New

Zealand, Africa, Europe and the European Union that attempt to reduce vulnerability to landslides, tsunamis, earthquakes, drought, famine, hurricanes/cyclones, flooding, etc.

Regional or Global Collaborations that Enhance Humanitarian Assistance

Nonprofit and Private Organization Attempts to Reducing

Vulnerability or Responding to Catastrophes in a Successful and/or Inventive Manner

We seek chapters that attempt to address concerns similar to those listed below:

'What are potential environmental, health and social catastrophes that face regions/countries and how are they being addressed?

What partnerships exist in relation to social, demographic, political and public policy trends that impact the practice of civic-government interactions towards those most vulnerable and in need of help?

What "best practices" emerge after disasters that encourage the sustainable development of communities as they return to normalcy, result in lasting social change and enhance the lives of people at the local and regional levels?

What affects do catastrophes have on the geo-political stability of regions, and how is stability maintained?

What are the social affects on regions dealing with vulnerable populations after catastrophes, and how do they affect international relations and/or regional governmental policies?

What role does the United Nations play in attempting to address the humanitarian needs of populations after catastrophes, and are their efforts effective in the long-term?

The editors highly encourage case studies and will consider a mixed methods approach among the chapters. We fully expect some of the chapters to be qualitative as well as quantitative (surveys, census data, focus groups, cross-cultural comparisons, etc.).

Send a title, an abstract and brief (3 - 5 page double-spaced) chapter proposal, in English, by Saturday January 31, 2009 to: DeMond Miller at millerd@rowan.edu.