Critical Lines of Action for Vulnerability and Resilience Research and Practice: Lessons from the 2017 Hurricane Season

2018 ◽  
Vol 05 (02n03) ◽  
pp. 1850015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hallie Eakin ◽  
Tischa A. Muñoz-Erickson ◽  
Maria Carmen Lemos
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Information Access ◽  
The United States ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Economic Disparities ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Hurricane Season ◽  
The Face ◽  
Critical Lines

The unprecedented number of devastating disasters recently experienced in the United States is a clarion call to revisit how we understand our vulnerability in the face of global change, and what we are prepared to do about it. We focus on the case of Hurricane María’s impact in Puerto Rico to underscore five critical concerns in addressing vulnerability and adaptation planning: (i) vulnerability as a product of flows; (ii) how our beliefs about the capacities of ourselves and others affect local vulnerability; (iii) the role uncertainty, politics, and information access play in amplifying vulnerability and complicating adaptation; (iv) the need for a better distribution of risk and responsibility in adaptation; (v) and the challenge of seizing the opportunity of disasters for transformative change. These five issues of concern were particularly evident in the case of Puerto Rico where Hurricane María’s 155 mph winds exposed existing infrastructural vulnerabilities, institutional incapacities, and socio-economic disparities. We argue that addressing these issues requires fundamental shifts in how we prepare for environmental change and disasters in the 21st century. We discuss promising approaches that may assist researchers and practitioners in addressing some of the underlying drivers of vulnerability, stemming from cross-scalar dynamics, systemic interdependencies, and the politics and social relations associated with knowledge, decision-making and action. We argue that society needs to broach the difficult topic of the equity in the distribution of risk in society and the burden of adaptation. Addressing these challenges and response imperatives is a central task of this century; the time to act is now.

Seismic Monitoring during Crises at the NEIC in Support of the ANSS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. Earle ◽  
Harley M. Benz ◽  
William L. Yeck ◽  
Gavin P. Hayes ◽  
Michelle R. Guy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Strong Motion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Software Systems ◽  
Storm Damage ◽  
Volcano Observatory ◽  
The Face ◽  
Seismic Networks

Abstract Over the past two decades, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) has overcome many operational challenges. These range from minor disruptions, such as power outages, to significant operational changes, including system reconfiguration to handle unique earthquake sequences and the need to handle distributed work during a pandemic. Our ability to overcome crises is built on the development and implementation of a continuity of operations plan, well-designed infrastructure, adaptive software systems, experienced staff, and extensive collaboration. The NEIC does not operate in a vacuum but benefits from contributions of United States and international seismic networks. Similarly, the overall resilience of earthquake monitoring in the United States and around the globe benefits from the NEIC’s role as the national center for the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS). Here, we highlight significant adaptations the NEIC has made in the face of crises. We discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, which represents the most significant operational crisis to impact the NEIC. The NEIC has maintained continuous operations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by shifting from a fully onsite operations center to a distributed hybrid of onsite and telework staffing. We then discuss cases in which the NEIC has supported regional monitoring in the face of significant crises. In 2018, the NEIC assisted the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory with the Kīlauea volcano eruption by responding to large events, implementing contingency monitoring procedures, and calculating moment magnitudes for the low-frequency caldera collapses. Impacts of a crisis extend beyond the immediate response and often require a significant postevent assessment and a rebuilding phase. After the 2017 Hurricane Maria, the NEIC, the USGS National Strong-Motion Program, and the USGS Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory worked with the Puerto Rico Seismic Network and the Puerto Rico Strong-Motion program to assess, plan, and implement upgrades at sites that experienced storm damage.

scholarly journals My journey in coping research and practice: The impetus and the relevance

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-90
Author(s):  
Erica Frydenberg
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear War ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Coping Theory ◽  
The Face ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Theory Research

AbstractMy journey in the field of stress and coping began in the mid 1980s when I was researching the rather new field of childhood depression. It was a relatively under-explored field, and as a clinical and educational psychologist it was becoming increasingly apparent that there were concerns of young people, with some of these reflected in their experiences of sadness and despair. However, as I researched and measured the depression construct, I became aware of despair as a growing phenomenon, with an increased focus and emphasis on stress, anxiety and depression. In time, the statistics would bear out the concerns, as one in four young people have identified as being or are likely to be depressed in their lifetime in some Western communities like Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom (WHO, 2018). Given the growing ‘ill health’ of our Western communities, something had to change. In the 1980s, young people were concerned about their future with the fear of nuclear war. As I was writing this invited retrospective in late 2019, there were widespread concerns about global warming, and in the first half of 2020 concerns arising from the pandemic of COVID-19 are dominating. Coping theory research and practice can make a significant contribution to how we cope with our world in general and the specifics of our lives in particular. This article reports a body of work in the field of coping to illustrate the value of the core constructs and their applications in diverse settings providing opportunities for helpful adaptation and development in the face of whatever circumstances arise.

Young people's stories of conflict and development in Post-war Croatia

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colette Daiute ◽  
Maja Turniski
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Narrative Theory ◽  
Social Effects ◽  
Community Center ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
The Face ◽  
Post War ◽  
Effects Of War

Scholars have begun to study the participation of children in war, but there is little research on the longer term consequences among those born during or after the war. This article explains how a socio-historical discourse perspective can expand research on the psycho-social effects of war. Drawing on a study of stories of conflict by children in post-war Croatia, the authors propose the concept “trans-generational development” to account for the legacies of war on social identity and knowledge. The focus of the analysis is 59 narratives written by 10 to 17 year olds identifying as Serb and Croat in the context of their participation in community center devoted to post-war recovery and development. The analysis identified complexity in young authors' representations of social relations across generations, especially around issues of ethnicity – a major issue fueling the 1990's wars in the former Yugoslavia. For example, the young authors characterized their parents' generation as divided, bitter, and socially impotent, their own generation as collaborative, wise, and resourceful, and future townspeople as active in the face of political and economic challenges. These patterns suggest how young people express identities and knowledge of the war period, yet, with support, also reason beyond the ideological and emotional legacies of war. Such story-telling complexity underscores the need for complex conceptualizations and applications of narrative theory to research and practice in war and other troubled settings.

Gendered differences in emigration and mobility perspectives among European researchers working abroad

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Scheibelhofer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
The Future ◽  
Highly Skilled

This paper focuses on gendered mobilities of highly skilled researchers working abroad. It is based on an empirical qualitative study that explored the mobility aspirations of Austrian scientists who were working in the United States at the time they were interviewed. Supported by a case study, the paper demonstrates how a qualitative research strategy including graphic drawings sketched by the interviewed persons can help us gain a better understanding of the gendered importance of social relations for the future mobility aspirations of scientists working abroad.

Verán ustedes las chozas más humildes. El discurso de pobreza en la diplomacia pública cardenista dirigida a Estados Unidos

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-281
Author(s):  
Sylvia Dümmer Scheel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Deal ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Government ◽  
Lazaro Cardenas ◽  
The New Deal

El artículo analiza la diplomacia pública del gobierno de Lázaro Cárdenas centrándose en su opción por publicitar la pobreza nacional en el extranjero, especialmente en Estados Unidos. Se plantea que se trató de una estrategia inédita, que accedió a poner en riesgo el “prestigio nacional” con el fin de justificar ante la opinión pública estadounidense la necesidad de implementar las reformas contenidas en el Plan Sexenal. Aprovechando la inusual empatía hacia los pobres en tiempos del New Deal, se construyó una imagen específica de pobreza que fuera higiénica y redimible. Ésta, sin embargo, no generó consenso entre los mexicanos. This article analyzes the public diplomacy of the government of Lázaro Cárdenas, focusing on the administration’s decision to publicize the nation’s poverty internationally, especially in the United States. This study suggests that this was an unprecedented strategy, putting “national prestige” at risk in order to explain the importance of implementing the reforms contained in the Six Year Plan, in the face of public opinion in the United States. Taking advantage of the increased empathy felt towards the poor during the New Deal, a specific image of hygienic and redeemable poverty was constructed. However, this strategy did not generate agreement among Mexicans.

Civil sphere and democracy in Latin America

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-40
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Ch. Alexander ◽  
Carlo Tognato
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Class Stratification ◽  
Civil Sphere ◽  
The Everyday

The purpose of the article is to demonstrate that the civil spheres of Latin America remain in force, even when under threat, and to expand the method of theorizing democracy, understanding it not only as a state form, but also as a way of life. Moreover, the task of the authors goes beyond the purely application of the theory of the civil sphere in order to emphasize the relevance not only in practice, but also in the theory of democratic culture and institutions of Latin America. This task requires decolonizing the arrogant attitude of North theorists towards democratic processes outside the United States and Europe. The peculiarities of civil spheres in Latin America are emphasized. It is argued that over the course of the nineteenth century the non-civil institutions and value spheres that surrounded civil spheres deeply compromised them. The problems of development that pockmarked Latin America — lagging economies, racial and ethnic and class stratification, religious strife — were invariably filtered through the cultural aspirations and institutional patterns of civil spheres. The appeal of the theory of the civil sphere to the experience of Latin America reveals the ambitious nature of civil society and democracy on new and stronger foundations. Civil spheres had extended significantly as citizens confronted uncomfortable facts, collectively searched for solutions, and envisioned new courses of collective action. However when populism and authoritarianism advance, civil understandings of legitimacy come under pressure from alternative, anti-democratic conceptions of motives, social relations, and political institutions. In these times, a fine-grained understanding of the competitive dynamics between civil, non-civil, and anti-civil becomes particularly critical. Such a vision is constructively applied not only to the realities of Latin America, but also in a wider global context. The authors argue that in order to understand the realities and the limits of populism and polarization, civil sphere scholars need to dive straight into the everyday life of civil communities, setting the civil sphere theory (CST) in a more ethnographic, “anthropological” mode.

Terrified

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Bail
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
The United States ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Muslim Americans ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
American Media ◽  
The Face ◽  
September 11 Attacks ◽  
The Public Sphere

In July 2010, Terry Jones, the pastor of a small fundamentalist church in Florida, announced plans to burn two hundred Qur'ans on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Though he ended up canceling the stunt in the face of widespread public backlash, his threat sparked violent protests across the Muslim world that left at least twenty people dead. This book demonstrates how the beliefs of fanatics like Jones are inspired by a rapidly expanding network of anti-Muslim organizations that exert profound influence on American understanding of Islam. The book traces how the anti-Muslim narrative of the political fringe has captivated large segments of the American media, government, and general public, validating the views of extremists who argue that the United States is at war with Islam and marginalizing mainstream Muslim-Americans who are uniquely positioned to discredit such claims. Drawing on cultural sociology, social network theory, and social psychology, the book shows how anti-Muslim organizations gained visibility in the public sphere, commandeered a sense of legitimacy, and redefined the contours of contemporary debate, shifting it ever outward toward the fringe. The book illustrates the author's pioneering theoretical argument through a big-data analysis of more than one hundred organizations struggling to shape public discourse about Islam, tracing their impact on hundreds of thousands of newspaper articles, television transcripts, legislative debates, and social media messages produced since the September 11 attacks. The book also features in-depth interviews with the leaders of these organizations, providing a rare look at how anti-Muslim organizations entered the American mainstream.

New Drugs of 2012: A Concise Overview of the NMEs and Trends for Innovative Brand Market in the United States

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 2009-2013
Author(s):  
D Samba Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Drug Approval ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
New Combination ◽  
Drug Status ◽  
Combination Drug ◽  
Human Cord Blood ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Genomics And Proteomics ◽  
The Face

Thirty-nine (39) new drugs have been approved by the U.S. FDA in 2012, a record highest number of approvals since 1996. The record is a sign that pharma companies are poised to tap recent advances from genomics and proteomics. This list includes novel new drugs, known as new molecular entities (NMEs), biologics and new products. Many life-saving drugs are approved for marketing. The list includes a total of 10 drugs for cancer treatment, and nearly a quarter of those approved in 2012 had orphan drug status.  Among the breakthrough drugs approved in 2012 were ivacaftor (cystic fibrosis), vasmodegib (skin cancer), HPC-C (human cord blood product), ruxolitinib (myelofibrosis) and a new combination drug to treat HIV. In addition,  several unique products were approved for the treatment of macular degeneration, chronic weight management, overactive bladder, actinic keratosis, erectile dysfunction, glaucoma, respiratory distress syndrome, and COPD. The approval of 39 drugs in 2012 underscores a robust success rate and confirms that innovation is once again beginning to pay off. In the existing climate of reduced revenues in the face of generic competitions, the future and survival of big companies rests heavily on their unique niche products. It is apparent that big Pharma and a growing number of emerging Biotechs alike have focused their attention on developing new NMEs for rare diseases. In 2012, the length of the FDA’s review is shorter than agencies in other countries. Innovative models adopted for R&D strategies, communications, and new regulatory changes appear to shorten development timelines. Despite record drug approvals, there is bleak scope for blockbusters because most of these drugs have a limited market. The pipeline for blockbusters appears very low. However, there is unmet medical need for new drugs in autism, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy. Overall, the new drug approval list unveils unique and reemerging trends indicating that the pharma companies are poised for big growth from new brands approved for marketing for narrow-spectrum indications.    

The New Economic Populism and the Future of Inequality in the United States

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William W. Franko ◽  
Christopher Witko
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Labor Unions ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Income Disparities ◽  
The Face ◽  
Over Time

The authors conclude the book by recapping their arguments and empirical results, and discussing the possibilities for the “new economic populism” to promote egalitarian economic outcomes in the face of continuing gridlock and the dominance of Washington, DC’s policymaking institutions by business and the wealthy, and a conservative Republican Party. Many states are actually addressing inequality now, and these policies are working. Admittedly, many states also continue to embrace the policies that have contributed to growing inequality, such as tax cuts for the wealthy or attempting to weaken labor unions. But as the public grows more concerned about inequality, the authors argue, policies that help to address these income disparities will become more popular, and policies that exacerbate inequality will become less so. Over time, if history is a guide, more egalitarian policies will spread across the states, and ultimately to the federal government.

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