Rethinking Catastrophes as Events

Abstract

Recent trends in the Sociology of Disaster have challenged classical notions of disasters as extraordinary events, replacing this view with one that sees disasters as normal, common occurrences that depend on preexisting social forces. In this paper I show that this constructivist perspective has enriched the field enormously, making it more sociological. However, it has also failed to relate disasters with the possibility of social change. Therefore, I ask how we can approach this topic in a fruitful way; one that takes into account disaster´s effects in the long term. For this, I argue, we do not need to replace the notion of disasters as events; instead, we need to change what we understand as an event. To do so, I reach to Historical Sociology and their notion of events as a sequence of occurrences that produces social transformations. Under this view, events are not considered as external shocks but, on the contrary, they are understood as “eventuating” from past conditions. However, this definition also allows us to understand that disasters can have important consequences for the future. I will conclude that it is only by considering disasters as situated events that we can analyze their effects in the long term and reveal them as key moments for social change.