The Cultural Sense of Disasters

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• Dr. Klaus Geiselhart (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Dr. Benedikt Orlowski (​​Department of Urban Research, City of Nuremberg)
• Tuesday 11 October 2022, 15:00-16:00
• Zoom via mailing list (see the CDRN talks.cam front page) .

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Rory Walshe.

People experience disasters very differently, often supposing they possess the most “correct” or “rational” interpretation of reality. In this session, two speakers will discuss conflicting attitudes and practices in dealing with risks and disasters, introducing the concept of “fields of practice” using two case studies: the HIV -AIDS crisis in Botswana and the volcanic crisis of El Hierro, Canary Islands. Fields of practice describe different social nexuses employing specific perceptions and dealings, due to either profession, social ties, or worldview. Individuals are always part of such fields but simultaneously singularities, meaning that they can personally make a difference, especially in disaster situations. The ruptures and dynamics between different worlds of experience and ways of dealing with risk are not a “flaw in the system” but the key to a better understanding of disastrous situations, as this seminar will explore.

This talk is part of the Cambridge Disaster Research Network series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Cambridge Disaster Research Network
• Zoom via mailing list (see the CDRN talks.cam front page)

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