Disaster, Conflict and Society in Crisis

Humanitarian crises are usually perceived as a complete break from normality, spurring special emergency policies and interventions. In reality, there are many continuities and discontinuities between crisis and normality. What does this mean for our understanding of politics, aid, and local institutions during crises? This book, first in the new Routledge Humanitarian Studies Series, examines this question from a sociological perspective. It provides a qualitative inquiry into the social and political dynamics of local institutional response, international policy and aid interventions in crises caused by conflict or natural disaster.