After a disaster, tangible and intangible changes happen in society, politics, and organizations. Changes occur in the ways social structures mediate and organize their relationships with the environment; in political narratives and discourses; in conflicts and interactions of different knowledges, as well as in organizations’ practices.

Recovering from a disaster is therefore an “adaptive” process that negotiates the tensions between the re-establishment of pre-disaster conditions and the alterations following the disaster. Exploring and understanding these issues is key for critically interrogating disasters and their consequences and avoiding simplified analyses and misconceptions.

In this lecture, Giuseppe Forino will discuss these issues in the case of Italy, using as a point of reference the arguments developed in his recently published book Disasters and Changes in Society and Politics, Contemporary Perspectives from Italy (Bristol University Press, 2024).

Part of the Hazard, Risk and Disaster (HRD) Research Lecture Series 2023-24. Find out more and book online here.