Disasters and Changes into Society and Politics: Contemporary Perspectives from Italy

From earthquakes to oil spills, Italy is recurrently affected by different kinds of disasters. This book brings a critical perspective to post-disaster reconstruction and recovery, which can impact in both the short- and long- term upon society, politics and organisations. It is often assumed that disaster-hit areas return to normality or even build back better thanks to the interventions of experts. Giuseppe Forino considers the complexities of disaster recovery and the sometimes radical changes in individual and collective behaviours that persist following such events. Bringing together the impacts of natural hazards (including climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic), this edited book will stimulate debate on policy and practice in disaster recovery. Front Cover Disasters and Changes in Society and Politics: Contemporary Perspectives from Italy Copyright information Table of Contents List of Figures and Tables Notes on Contributors Introduction – An Overview of the Book: Beyond Conventional Approaches to Disaster Recovery References PART I Making Sense of Post-disaster Changes in Society and Space 1 Risk Perception, Climate Change and Disasters of the Alpine Environments Introduction The state of emergency: the construction of the wall and the people’s disagreements Local communities: ‘us’ against ‘them’ Risk perception and invisibility Notes References 2 The Isolation of the Island Introduction: a volcanic island is a seismic island Casamicciola and the earthquake The latency time after the disaster The three post-seismic phases Conclusions Notes References 3 The Permanent Red Zone Introduction Inhabiting disasters Case study and methodology The Alto Nera: a paradigmatic and representative case study Methodological note on ethnography Inhabiting post-earthquake central Italy Return to utopia Post-disaster material culture Inside the interior Inhabiting and spatiality Square villages and street villages Mount Bove and us Visso is its own square Conclusions Notes References 4 Adaptive Disaster Memories Introduction The end of the world Before and after Reconstruction I was not there, but I remember Discussion Conclusions Note References PART II Post-disaster Politics 5 The Covid-19 Pandemic and the Ladder of Power Introduction Global crisis, local responses Sentimental connections Locality and meanings Conclusions Notes References 6 Afar from Vesuvius but Still at Risk Introduction: The urban enclosure of the volcano Emergency planning Volcanic risk in the ‘yellow zone’ The Agro Nocerino-Sarnese among cement, ash and mud Conclusions Notes References 7 Local Communities as Strangers In-Between The disaster: ghosts in the crater Reconstruction and abandonment Aleatory politics and the production of scenarios Conclusions Notes References PART III Disasters and Conflicting Knowledges 8 Under the Smart City Paradigm Introduction Methodology Smart city: a discourse Smart city paradigm as neoliberal city model Is SC a paradigm? The reified city and the laboratory-city: representations Recovering or repairing? Post-disaster L’Aquila: three parallel reconstruction processes L’Aquila smart city: national inter-governmental and local level projects Even at local level: smarter is better The impact of SC model on L’Aquila reconstruction A techno-centred transformation of a territory Conclusions Acknowledgements Notes References 9 Expertise Versus Aspiration Introduction Disasters as social phenomena The context, the event, the post-earthquake: the Emilia case Rising conflict between expert’s knowledge and people’s aspiration Competing experts Conclusions Notes References 10 Local and Professional Knowledge in Post-disaster Reconstruction Introduction Some considerations about psychological issues involving people affected by traumatic events A participatory methodological approach Sample characteristics Analysis of data and comparison of community and professional opinions Topic 1: Investigation of emergency management following the landslide of February 2010 Topic 2: Investigation on recovery and rehabilitation of the population following the landslide of February 2010 Discussion Conclusions Acknowledgements Notes References PART IV Organizations Adapting to Post-disaster Changes 11 Adapting to the COVID-19 Pandemic Introduction The survey administered to university lecturers at the University of Milan-Bicocca An overview of lecturers’ answers Interaction/involvement Implementation of technological skills (WebEx, Moodle platform, data analysis) Flexibility Time Conclusions References 12 The National and Local Dimension of the Italian Civil Protection System Introduction Italian emergency management: overview of the normative evolution Pre-republican phase After 1945 Reflections: the slow process of formal and substantial evolution The local dimension: challenges for the MCPP MCPP in theory MCPP in practice The silo mentality and disciplinary divide at the local scale The risk perception action gap and how to fill it Note References 13 When the Unexpected Becomes Frequent The minor events Major events ontology It is the context that causes the disaster The incorrect accounting of minor events Vaia Storm and the meteorological impacts on the Eastern Alps Minor events in the Vaia impact area Overview of Vaia Storm The lack of a vision for the Eastern Alps Rethinking adaptation as transformation and not as defence Conclusions Databases consulted References 14 Conclusions References Index