Through comparing the cultural representations of the floods of the 1950s with those
of the year 2000, this article explores the changing conceptualizations of adversity
in Britain.The focus of this study is the shift from a narrative of resilience in
the 1950s to a narrative of vulnerability in the early 21st century.This shift is
paralleled by a reorientation of cultural scripts from an emphasis on community
solidarity to individual distress. This article contends that both the
representations of how a community copes with a disaster, and people’s lived
experiences of disasters, were influenced by this shift.Through exploring the
evolution of the cultural narrative of adversity, its changing meaning is discussed.
Anderson, D.
and
Mullen, P.
(1998) Faking It: The Sentimentalisation of Modern
Society .
London: Social Affairs Unit
.
2.
Barbalet, J.
(2002) `Introduction: Why Emotions Are Crucial', in
J. Barbalet
(ed.) Emotions and Sociology, pp.
69—89.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers
.
3.
Barton, A.
(1969) Communities in Disaster; A Sociological Analysis of
Collective Stress Situations.
New York: Ward Lock Educational
.
4.
Baxter, P.
(2005) `
The East Coast Big Flood, 31 January — 1 February 1953: A
Summary of the Human Disaster
', Philosophical Transactions: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences363(1831):
1293—312
.
5.
Butcher, A.
(1952) `
The Floods'
, Western Morning News , 18 August 1952.
6.
Cardona, O.
(2001) `The Need for Rethinking the Concepts of Vulnerability
and Risk from a Holistic Perspective: A Necessary Review and Criticism for
Effective Risk Management', in
G. Bankoff
et al. (eds) Mapping Vulnerability: Disasters, Development and
People, pp. 1—17.
London: Earthscan Publishers
.
7.
Carr, L.
(1932) `
Disaster and the Sequence-Pattern Concept of Social Change'
, American Journal of Sociology38(2):
207—18
.
8.
De Chesnay, M.
(ed.) (2005) Caring for the Vulnerable: Perspectives in
Nursing Theory: Practice and Research .
Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett
.
9.
Dunal, C.
,
Gaviria, M.
,
Flaherty, J.
and
Birz, S.
(1985)
`Perceived Disruption and Psychological Distress Among Flood Victims'
, Journal of Operational Psychiatry16(2):
67—95
.
10.
Durodie, W.
(2004) `
Facing the Possibility of Bioterrorism', Current Opinion inBiotechnology15:
264—9
.
11.
EDP24 ( 2002) `1953: The Queen Sees The Floods', URL
(consulted 9 March 2006): http://www.edp24.co.uk/Content/Features/Jubilee/asp/Jubilee50sC.asp
12.
Elias, N.
(1982) The Civilizing Process, Vol. 2: State Formation and
Civilization.
Oxford: Basil Blackwell
.
13.
Erikson, K.
(1994) A New Species Of Trouble: Explorations in Disaster,
Trauma, and Community.
London: Norton
.
14.
Ewald, F.
(2002) `The Return of Descartes' Malicious Demon: An Outline
of a Philosophy of Precaution', in
T. Baker
and
J. Simon
(eds) Embracing Risk: The Changing Culture of Insurance and
Responsibility, pp. 273—301.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press
.
15.
Field, G.
(2002) `
Nights Underground in Darkest London: The Blitz, 1940—41
', International Labor and Working-Class History62:
11—49
.
16.
Fischer H.
(1998) Response to Disaster: Fact Versus Fiction and its
Perpetuation: The Sociology of Disaster.
Lanham, MD: University Press of America
.
17.
Frankenberg, R.
,
Robinson, I.
and
Delahooke, A.
(2000) `
Countering Essentialism in Behavioural Social Science: The Example of the
“Vulnerable Child” Ethnographically Examined
', The Sociological Review48(4):
586—611
.
18.
Freudenberg, W.
(1997) `
Contamination, Corrosion and the Social Order: An Overview'
, Current Sociology45(3):
19—40
.
19.
Fritz, C.
(1996) Disasters and Mental Health: Therapeutic Principles
Drawn From Disaster Studies, Disaster Research Centre: Historical and
Comparative Disaster Series, 10.
Newark: University of Delaware
.
20.
Furedi, F.
(2004) Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an
Anxious Age.
London: Routledge
.
21.
Gergen, K.J.
(1990) `
Therapeutic Professions and the Diffusion of Deficit', TheJournal of Mind and Behaviour11(3—4):
353—68
.
22.
Giddens, A.
(1991) Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the
Late Modern Age.
Cambridge: Polity
.
23.
Heijmans, A.
(2001) `
Vulnerability: A Matter of Perception'
, Paper presented at the International Work-Conference on
`Vulnerability in Disaster Theory and Practice' organized by Wagenningen
Disaster Studies , 29—30 June.
24.
Herald Express
(2000) `When the Wind from Dartmoor Whistles', 17 November.
25.
Hewitt, J.
(1998) The Myth of Self-Esteem: Finding Happiness and Solving
Problems in America.
New York: St. Martin's Press
.
26.
Hirst, J.
(2000) `
In Deep Trouble'
, Guardian, 6 December.
27.
Hochschild, A.
(1979) `
Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure'
, American Journal of Sociology85(3):
551—75
.
28.
Holliday, R.
(2000) `
Christmas at Home Vow after Flooding — Family Will Stay Put in
House Despite Damage'
, Newcastle Journal , 12 December.
29.
Horlick-Jones, T.
(1995) `
Modern Disasters as Outrage and Betrayal'
, International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters13(3):
329—34
.
30.
Ibarra, P.
and
Kitsuse, J.
(2003) `Claims-Making Discourse and Vernacular
Resources' , in
J. Holstein
and
G. Miller
(eds) Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspectives on Social
Problems, pp. 17—50.
New York: Aldine de Gruyter
.
31.
Irwin, J.
(2000) `
Anguish as Flood Victims Return to find their Homes Looted'
, Daily Mail, 16 October.
32.
Jones, E.
,
Woolven, R.
,
Durodie, W.
and
Wesselly, S.
(2004) `
Civilian Morale During the Second World War: Responses to Air Raids Re-examined'
, Social History of Medicine17(3):
463—79
.
33.
Kroll-Smith, S.
,
Couch S.
and
Marshall B.
(1997) `
Sociology, Extreme Environments and Social Change
', Current Sociology45(3):
1—18
.
34.
Levine, C.
(2004) `
The Concept of Vulnerability in Disaster Research'
, Journal of Traumatic Stress17(5):
395—402
.
35.
Logan, L.
(1953) Report on England's Flood Disaster to the Committee on
Disaster Studies, National Research Council.
Washington, DC: National Research Council
.
36.
Mackay, R.
(2002) Half the Battle: Civilian Morale in Britain During the
Second World War.
Manchester: Manchester University Press
.
37.
McLean, I.
and
Johnes, M.
(2000) Aberfan: Government and Disasters.
Cardiff: Welsh Academic Press
.
38.
Morgan, L.
,
Scourfield, J.
,
Williams, D.
,
Jasper, A.
and
Lewis, G.
(2003) `
The Aberfan Disaster: 33-Year Follow-up of Survivors'
, British Journal of Psychiatry182:
532—6
.
39.
Mouland, B.
(2002) `
Bishop in Funding Call for Flood Defences'
, Birmingham Post, 21 June.
40.
Noji, E.
(2005) `
Disasters: Introduction and State of the Art'
, Epidemiologic Reviews27:
29—33
.
41.
Ohl, C.
and
Tapsell, S.
(2000) `
Flooding and Human Health: The Dangers Posed are Not Always Obvious'
, The British Medical Journal321(7270):
1167—8
.
42.
Perry, S.
,
Silber, E.
and
Black, D.
(1956) The Child and His Family in Disaster: A Study of the
1953 Vicksburg Tornado, National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council
Disaster Study, 5.
Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences
.
43.
Pollard, M.
(1978) North Sea Surge: The Story of the East Coast Floods of
1953.
Lavenham: Terence Dalton
.
44.
Quarantelli E.
and
Dynes, R.
(1977) `
Response to Social Crisis and Disaster'
, Annual Review of Sociology3:
23—41
.
45.
Stallings, R.
(2002) `
Weberian Political Sociology and Sociological Disaster Studies'
, Sociological Forum17(2):
281—304
.
46.
Stallings, Robert
(2006) `Methodological Issues', in
H. Rodriguez
et al. (eds) Handbook of Disaster Research .
New York: Springer
.
47.
Summerfield, D.
(2001) `
The Invention of Post-Traumatic Disorder and the Social Usefulness of a
Psychiatric Category'
, British Medical Journal322(7278):
95—8
.
48.
Summers, D.
(1978) The East Coast Floods.
Newton Abbot: David & Charles
.
49.
Tapsell, S.
(1998) The Health Effects of Floods: The Easter 1998 Floods
in England. Flood Hazard Research Centre Article Series, 3/99.
FHRC
,
Middlesex University
.
50.
Tapsell, S.
and
Tunstall, S.
(2001) The Health and Social Effects of the June 2000
Flooding in the North East Region.
Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University
.
51.
The Times (1952a)
`Burial of Flood Victims: Ceremony in Valley of Rocks'
, 20 August.
52.
The Times (1952b)
`Returning River to Former Course'
, 22 August.
53.
The Times (1953a)
`Statement to Commons'
, 3 February.
54.
The Times (1953b)
`Mankind at its Best — Primate's Tribute'
, 20 February.
55.
The Times (1953c)
`Relief and Repairs after the Flood'
, 20 February.
56.
Titmuss, R.
(1950) Problems of Social Policy.
London: HMSO
.
57.
Turkel, G.
(2002) `
Sudden Solidarity and the Rush to Normalization: Toward an Alternative Approach'
, Sociological Focus35(1):
73—9
.
58.
Wainwright, M.
(2000) `
Misery Continues for Flood Evacuees'
, Guardian, 10 November.
59.
Webb, G.
(2006) `The Popular Culture of Disaster: Exploring a New
Dimension of Disaster Research', in
H. Rodriguez
et al. (eds) Handbook of Disaster Research.
New York: Springer
.
60.
West, P.
(2004) Conspicuous Compassion; When Sometimes it really is
Cruel to be Kind.
London: Civitas
.
61.
Western Mail
(2001) `Flood Victim, 96 Is Kept Waiting', 4 September.
Wolfenstein, M.
(1957) Disaster: A Psychological Essay.
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
.
Young, M.
(1955) `The Role of the Extended Family in a Disaster
', in Studies in Holland Flood Disaster 1953, pp.
23—45.
Washington, DC: Committee On Disaster Studies
Of The National Academy Of Sciences — National Research Council
.
