Review of Crisis, Disaster, and Risk - National Association of ...

Review of Crisis, Disaster, and Risk:Institutional Response and Emergenceby Kyle FarmbryReview by Jack KrauskopfSchool of Public Affairs, Baruch College, City University of New YorkCrisis, Disaster, and Risk attempts and largely accomplishes several different featsof analysis. On one level, it is a management book about the causes of certainmajor disasters and the extent of public and societal preparedness for and responseto them. On another, it is a history of plagues, cholera, and viruses from the MiddleAges to today, as well as major natural and human-caused events in the 20th and21st centuries in United States and other nations. Finally, it is an intellectualhistory, emphasizing the scientific advances that led to the development of publichealth and environmental policies, procedures, and institutions.Kyle Farmbry is associate professor and associate dean at Rutgers University–Newark, where he teaches public administration and nonprofit managementcourses. He was drawn to this subject after attending a wedding in the MiddleEast and then anxiously following the aftermath of the 2004 Asian tsunami inthe region where the new couple had gone for their honeymoon. In addition tothe public health history, the book developed from that event, other disastersoccurring in the last 10 years, and salient events from the last century—theGalveston hurricane in 1900, San Francisco earthquake in 1906, and worldwideflu pandemic in 1918, among others.The book builds on descriptions and assessments of particular natural andtechnology-caused disasters that illustrate key points about the state of communityand institutional preparedness for events and longer term development of thecapacity of organizations and systems, especially in public health, to combat thespread of disease and infection. Chapters trace important legislative and regulatoryadvances that followed environmental and industrial hazards, and each chapterconcludes with current outstanding issues of concern.Our vulnerability to natural disasters comes from unresolved questions ofpopulation and development growth in areas prone to hurricanes, such as Katrinain 2005, to which we could add New York and the East Coast’s experience withSuperstorm Sandy in 2012 and other events likely to come. The public healthJPAE 19(3), 581–583Journal of Public Affairs Education 581

J. Krauskopfpart of the story is one of positive accomplishments in combatting polio, smallpox,and malaria; but includes contemporary concerns generated by the 30-year ongoingexperience with HIV/AIDS and the potential danger from recurrence of animalto-humanderived viruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)in 2003.The technology section begins with the development and continuing threatfrom nuclear weapons from the atomic bomb through the various phases of theCold War to current concern for national and terrorist acquisition of weapons ofmass destruction. A subsequent chapter deals with the risks of nuclear power,noting the accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986, andFukishima in 2011. The final technology chapters address industrial accidents,highlighted by the Love Canal hazardous waste crisis that became public in the1970s, the disastrous release of toxic gas from the Union Carbide plant inBhopal, India in 1984, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (BP) in the Gulf ofMexico in 2010.The author concludes that disasters have led to substantial institutional learningand capacity development in the past. Continuous risk assessment now is essentialbecause of the reality that disasters are constant factors—in forms that are frequentlyunexpected—in our present and future lives. As a means of control, buildingphysical infrastructure and strengthening of policy and organizational frameworkshave become high priorities.In its worldwide historical view of the topic, Farmbry’s book provides a vehiclefor citizens and students to learn and think about disasters. Although the subjecthas received considerable and growing attention in an academic literature toovoluminous to summarize here, this book accomplishes an especially thoughtfulcross-cutting of specific events, time periods, and societal, professional, andmanagement responses to crises.There are other detailed monographs on particular events, such as Klinenberg’son the Chicago heat wave, and period histories, like Emergency Management: TheAmerican Experience 1900–2010, edited by Rubin. There are also numerous textson emergency management—including Introduction to Emergency Managementby Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola—that discuss the phases and functions forcurrent and prospective practitioners in the field. In addition, Louise Comfort,William Waugh, Kathleen Tierney, and many other scholars treat disaster responseand recovery issues in well-developed analytic and theoretical frameworks.Farmbry’s book adds a broad sweep and particular probing to create aperspective and value of its own. Faculty in emergency management coursesmight want to consider it along with texts in the field.582 Journal of Public Affairs Education

Book ReviewFootnote1. Publishing information:195 pp. (pbk)M.E Sharpe (2013)Armonk, New York, and London, EnglandISBN: 978-0-7656-2419-2 (cloth)ISBN: 978-0-7656-2421-5 (pbk)James A. (Jack) Krauskopf is distinguished lecturer and director, Center forNonprofit Strategy & Management, School of Public Affairs, Baruch College(City University of New York). Previously, he was chief program officer, 9/11United Services Group; dean of Milano Graduate School of Management &Urban Policy, and senior vice president for Administration & Finance, NewSchool University; and commissioner, New York City Human Resources Administration.He also held public positions in Wisconsin, Cleveland, and Newark.Journal of Public Affairs Education 583