Contingencies: Rethinking disasters and crises in an age of deep uncertainty

We live in a time of overwhelming uncertainty. Whether it is the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the validity of knowledge or the possible extinction of humans as a species, the power of contingency has never been so profound.

Conceptual framework on contingencies

Understood as events outside the control of agency, contingencies are fundamental for shaping our lives and central for thinking about crises and disasters. Yet scholarship on the concept of contingencies within disaster and crisis management studies has been severely limited if not altogether neglected. As related fields of scholarship within the social and natural sciences increasingly recognize the significance of the concept, it has been received little consideration in relation to disasters and crises.

The aim of this edited book project is to address this lacuna in the study of disasters and crises by offering a conceptual framework on contingencies and revealing how it can be fruitfully applied to a range of disaster and crisis related cases.