Overview
This book is a festschrift in tribute to Ben Wisner’s contributions to disaster studies and adjacent fields of scholarship such as political ecology, development and sustainability. This festschrift for Ben, and so The Benschrift, revitalises, promotes and critiques a selection of six foundational articles that span Ben’s 50-year career. Each article is reproduced integrally and followed by a commentary by an expert in the field and a response from Ben. As a result, this book not only introduces a lifetime’s work to the latest generation of researchers; it also contributes a meaningful dialogue across decades of scholarship, expressing contemporary reflections alongside the understanding of how to engage with and improve past research. Two fundamental truths stand out: the value of local knowledge and the necessity of seeking root causes and radical solutions. This book is an essential read for students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners interested in the development and evolution of disaster scholarship, political ecology, development and sustainability studies.
Full Product Details
Author: Ben Wisner ,
JC Gaillard (University of Auckland, NZ.) ,
Ilan Kelman (University College London, UK, and University of Adger, Norway)
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint: Routledge
Weight: 0.670kg
ISBN: 9781032695938
ISBN 10: 1032695935
Pages: 260
Publication Date: 31 October 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Not yet available
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.
Author Information
Ben Wisner is an activist scholar who finds himself tempted by nostalgia for the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, when he worked to understand and address disaster risk with civil society and local government in a number of countries in eastern and southern Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In his eighties, he watches the autumn leaves turn colour, contemplates the cycle of life, death and rebirth, and wonders what impact his university teaching and publications have had. The warm southwest wind whispers the names of his many co-authors, co-editors and research partners. He is grateful for them all. JC Gaillard is Ahorangi o te Matawhenua/Professor of Geography at Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland. His work focuses on power and inclusion in disaster and disaster studies. It includes developing participatory tools for engaging minority groups in disaster risk reduction, with an emphasis on cultural and gender minorities, people in detention and children. Ilan Kelman is Professor of Disasters and Health at University College London, England and Professor II at the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. His overall research interest is linking disasters and health, integrating climate change into both. Three main areas are: (i) disaster diplomacy and health diplomacy; (ii) island sustainability focusing on safe and healthy living and livelihoods; and (iii) risk education for health and disasters.
