Mohan Kumar Bera, PhD

3/7/2019 @ Mohan Kumar Bera, PhD, India 1

Introduction
 Historical perspective of disaster
 Pre-historical Period; Historical period
 Pre Industrial Revolution (1760 AD);
 Post Industrial Revolution ;
 Age of geographical discoveries;
 Age of scientific discovery or Age of
Enlightenment (16-17th Century);
 Modern Age

3/7/2019 @ Mohan Kumar Bera, PhD, India 2

 World War I (1914-18) and World War II (1942-45)
 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945
 Decolonization
 The International Red Cross and Red Crescent (1863)
 United Nation (1945)
 The United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (1946)
 United Nations International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (1999)
 3/7/2019
Indian Ocean Tsunami
@ Mohan Kumar (2004)
Bera, PhD, India 3
Conceptualisation of Disaster
 Disagreement to conceptualise the concept of disaster
 Religious understanding Vs. Scientific understanding
 Debate between physical scientists and social scientists
 Environmental Scientist Vs. Social Scientist
 Political Economy of Disaster Vs. Political Ecology of
Disaster
 Contribution of
 Why Disaster Management is an Inter-Disciplinary
Science?

3/7/2019 @ Mohan Kumar Bera, PhD, India 4

 Defining Disaster

‘Disaster’ is a serious disruption of the functioning of a

community or society, causing widespread human,
material, economic, or environmental loss which goes
beyond the day-to-day ability of the affected people or
community or society to cope using its own resources
(UN-ISDR 2002).

3/7/2019 @ Mohan Kumar Bera, PhD, India 5

Time, Space and Activity in Disaster

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