At the Edge of Resilience: Making Sense of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Environmental History
Natural disasters nearly always catch societies by surprise, even though in hindsight historians invariably conclude that being caught off-guard in this way was in fact unfounded as both the existence of the natural hazard which caused the disaster, and the societal conditions making communities vul...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
| Published: |
Brepols Publishers
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Journal for the History of Environment and Society |
| Online Access: | https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/10.1484/J.JHES.5.122459 |
| _version_ | 1797715480235999232 |
|---|---|
| author | Tim Soens Raf De Bont Maïka De Keyzer |
| author_facet | Tim Soens Raf De Bont Maïka De Keyzer |
| author_sort | Tim Soens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Natural disasters nearly always catch societies by surprise, even though in hindsight historians invariably conclude that being caught off-guard in this way was in fact unfounded as both the existence of the natural hazard which caused the disaster, and the societal conditions making communities vulnerable to the hazard, were clearly present before the event. Both experts and the general public also, again in hindsight, suddenly discover that similar hazards and disasters had previously occurred in the past. In many cases, however, the memory of these precursors had faded or seemed irrelevant because the context had changed so dramatically. When future historians come to write the history of the COVID-19 pandemic currently unfolding, therefore, it will probably resemble the history of other major natural, socio-natural or socio-techno-natural disasters - whether pandemics, earthquakes, tsunamis or nuclear catastrophes (Van Bavel et al. 2020). In retrospect, COVID-19 will become a subject which seems quite familiar to environmental historians used to unravelling the complex and hazardous entanglements of society and nature. What can environmental history offer at this moment, however, when the disaster - crisis or hazard - is still unfolding? |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T08:07:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f5896efa6a6c44ed9f2c1433c620f52b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2506-6730 2506-6749 |
| language | deu |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T08:07:23Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Brepols Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal for the History of Environment and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-f5896efa6a6c44ed9f2c1433c620f52b2023-09-02T19:27:50ZdeuBrepols PublishersJournal for the History of Environment and Society2506-67302506-67492020-01-01592010.1484/J.JHES.5.122459At the Edge of Resilience: Making Sense of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Environmental HistoryTim SoensRaf De BontMaïka De KeyzerNatural disasters nearly always catch societies by surprise, even though in hindsight historians invariably conclude that being caught off-guard in this way was in fact unfounded as both the existence of the natural hazard which caused the disaster, and the societal conditions making communities vulnerable to the hazard, were clearly present before the event. Both experts and the general public also, again in hindsight, suddenly discover that similar hazards and disasters had previously occurred in the past. In many cases, however, the memory of these precursors had faded or seemed irrelevant because the context had changed so dramatically. When future historians come to write the history of the COVID-19 pandemic currently unfolding, therefore, it will probably resemble the history of other major natural, socio-natural or socio-techno-natural disasters - whether pandemics, earthquakes, tsunamis or nuclear catastrophes (Van Bavel et al. 2020). In retrospect, COVID-19 will become a subject which seems quite familiar to environmental historians used to unravelling the complex and hazardous entanglements of society and nature. What can environmental history offer at this moment, however, when the disaster - crisis or hazard - is still unfolding?https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/10.1484/J.JHES.5.122459 |
| spellingShingle | Tim Soens Raf De Bont Maïka De Keyzer At the Edge of Resilience: Making Sense of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Environmental History Journal for the History of Environment and Society |
| title | At the Edge of Resilience: Making Sense of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Environmental History |
| title_full | At the Edge of Resilience: Making Sense of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Environmental History |
| title_fullStr | At the Edge of Resilience: Making Sense of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Environmental History |
| title_full_unstemmed | At the Edge of Resilience: Making Sense of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Environmental History |
| title_short | At the Edge of Resilience: Making Sense of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Environmental History |
| title_sort | at the edge of resilience making sense of covid 19 from the perspective of environmental history |
| url | https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/10.1484/J.JHES.5.122459 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT timsoens attheedgeofresiliencemakingsenseofcovid19fromtheperspectiveofenvironmentalhistory AT rafdebont attheedgeofresiliencemakingsenseofcovid19fromtheperspectiveofenvironmentalhistory AT maikadekeyzer attheedgeofresiliencemakingsenseofcovid19fromtheperspectiveofenvironmentalhistory |