No Natural Disasters
What does it mean to say there is “no such thing as a natural disaster”?
Disasters are shaped by human decisions, systems, and inequalities—not just nature
A term coined by Scott Frikel that describes how systems can be set up in ways that limit what we know?
What is "organized ignorance"?
This term describes long-term environmental harm that is slow and mostly invisible
What is slow violence?
What is a common way disasters are typically defined?
Sudden, extreme events (hurricanes, explosions, etc.)
What is one common strategy used to avoid responsibility for harm?
Creating or emphasizing uncertainty
Why might calling a disaster “natural” be politically useful?
It hides responsibility and prevents accountability
In Scott Gabriel Knowles’s discussion of Hurricane Katrina, how did the structure of environmental testing limit what could be known?
Testing separated air, water, and soil, preventing understanding of combined toxic effects.
This author argues that burn pits show how military practices can harm health in ways that are delayed and difficult to prove
Who is Kenneth MacLeish?
This author argues that disasters are not just natural events but are shaped by social and political systems
Who is Samantha Montano?
In the burn pits case, why is it hard for soldiers to get recognition?
They must prove exposure and causation
A concept used to describe the interconnected relationship between natural forces and technological systems in disasters
What is Envirotechnical System (coined by Sara Pritchard)
In the burn pits case, how does the absence of long-term data shape the outcome of investigations into soldiers’ health?
It makes it difficult to prove causation, leading to delayed or denied recognition.
What problem do evidentiary ecologies create for proving causation?
They make it difficult to link exposure to illness
According to Montano, what is one major flaw in how disaster management systems currently operate?
They focus on response rather than long-term preparedness and systemic prevention.
Why is proving causation (linking exposure to harm) such a central barrier across these cases?
Because systems require definitive proof, which is difficult in complex, long-term exposures
If disasters are not “natural,” what does that imply about prevention and responsibility?
Disasters are preventable and responsibility lies with human systems (policy, infrastructure, inequality)
In what ways can disaster investigations reinforce, rather than challenge, existing power structures?
By controlling narratives, limiting evidence, delaying action, or legitimizing institutional responses
In the Rubai reading, this term describes environments transformed by long-term militarization, producing both immediate destruction and long-term health harms like birth defects and cancer.
What are "war ecologies"?
Why are sudden events more likely to be labeled disasters than long-term ones?
Because disaster definitions prioritize immediate, event-based harm.
Across all readings, what pattern do we see in how responsibility is handled?
It is deferred, obscured, or distributed to avoid accountability
What are the political consequences of rejecting the idea of “natural disasters”?
It exposes power structures, challenges neutrality, and demands accountability from states/corporations
In Montano’s reading, what limitation do disaster investigations often have when explaining disasters?
They focus too much on response and not enough on the underlying systems that produced the vulnerability
How do the readings show that the invisibility of harm is actively produced rather than accidental?
Through lack of data, limited research, institutional denial, and high standards of proof.
What does Rubaii’s work suggest about why war-related health effects are often not counted as part of a disaster?
Because they appear long after conflict and are not recognized as immediate disaster outcomes.
Across all four readings, what is the strongest shared argument about disasters and responsibility?
Disasters are not accidental but produced by social, political, and institutional systems, and responsibility is often obscured or deferred to avoid accountability.