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Expanding Social Science Through Disaster Studies
Author(s) -
Reinhardt Gina Yannitell,
Ross Ashley D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
social science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1540-6237
pISSN - 0038-4941
DOI - 10.1111/ssqu.12668
Subject(s) - scope (computer science) , sociology , bridge (graph theory) , field (mathematics) , disaster research , politics , corporate governance , political science , public relations , social science , economics , medicine , mathematics , management , finance , computer science , pure mathematics , law , programming language
Objectives This article provides an overview of how the interdisciplinary field of disaster studies contributes to the social sciences. Methods The following themes are explored in relation to the articles contained in the special issue: disasters are social and political phenomena that generate policy change, disasters reflect and affect democratic governance, and disasters reveal shared experience and collective identity. Results Disaster studies bridge the social sciences theoretically and methodologically. Given the scope of disaster impacts—across social, political, economic, ecological, and infrastructure spheres—and the policy response they garner involving public, private, and civic actors, they offer a lens by which to see society and politics in a way that no other critical events can. Conclusion Disaster studies offer important applications of social science theories and concepts that expand the field, broaden our reach as social scientists, and deepen our understanding of fundamental social processes and behaviors in meaningful ways.