Disaster management: Socio-legal and Asia-Pacific perspectives

Abstract

Catastrophic events are increasingly in the public eye, fuelling a burgeoning but complex field of interdisciplinary research and policy-making worldwide. Only in recent years, devastating natural disasters have included the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, Hurricane Katrina in the United States (US) in 2005, Cyclone Nargis in Burma (Myanmar) and the Sichuan Earthquake in 2008—to name a few. Developed economies have not been spared, as shown by the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand and Australia’s widespread floods in Queensland in 2011. In particular, the disasters that wreaked havoc from 11 March 2011 in the north-east region of Japan, especially around Fukushima, highlighted the significance and challenges of disaster prevention and management. To highlight themes and research questions addressed in this volume, particularly for those less familiar with disaster studies, this introductory chapter outlines: 1 What can be encompassed by the terms ‘disasters’ and ‘disaster management’; 2.Contributions to ‘disaster studies’ from various social sciences and, more recently, from a legal perspective; and 3. Lessons that can be learned from socio-legal perspectives on recent catastrophes in Asia-Pacific countries, including possibilities for regional and international cooperation in disaster mitigation, relief and recovery.