Disasters are caused by natural forces or by humans. Disasters are sudden and unplanned. It is difficult to predict when, where, how and to whom they are going to happen. This study investigated eight news stories about disasters that occurred in Thailand and in other countries in 2011. The data was then analyzed and synthesized using Hegel's Dialectics and the theory of public finance and public administration introduced by Richard Musgrave.The findings reveal that the eight disaster news stories can be explained with reference to an externality approach. Some aspects of the news stories are related to other theories such as the public goods theory in the case of the government budget in infrastructure rebuilding and repair or the public choice theory for a multi-organisation collaboration in providing information for disaster preparedness. It is found that 75% of the news stories employed a positive/ predictive approach using empirical evidence such as numerical data to support the report. Interestingly, a normative approach, which seeks to provide a framework of “what ought to be”, is rarely found in the analysis or suggestion section of the news story. Seven of the news stories (87.5%) use fiscal theory in the analysis. It is evident that disaster management is proved to be a mammoth task which cannot be handled by the citizens, the private sector, and the voluntary sector alone. The government, both central and local, takes main responsibility for disaster preparedness, response and recovery. Government expenditure and spending policy is used to reconstruct or repair the community infrastructure. In addition, cutting-edge technology in the digital age has been introduced in disaster response. For example, in Australia a drone is used to save people from drowning. It is noted that disaster victims shall seek speedy recovery from the effects of the disaster with a strong focus and determination by adhering to self-reliance and community resilience to prepare for inevitable future disasters.

Dissent from the Homeland is a book about patriotism, justice, revenge, American history and symbology, art and terror, and pacifism. In this deliberately and urgently provocative collection, noted writers, philosophers, literary critics, and theologians speak out against the war on terrorism and the government of George W. Bush as a response to the events of September 11, 2001. Critiquing government policy, citizen apathy, and societal justifications following the attacks, these writers present a wide range of opinions on such issues as contemporary American foreign policy and displays of patriotism in the wake of the disaster. Whether illuminating the narratives that have been used to legitimate the war on terror, reflecting on the power of American consumer culture to transform the attack sites into patriotic tourist attractions, or insisting that to be a Christian is to be a pacifist, these essays refuse easy answers. They consider why the Middle East harbors a deep-seated hatred for the United States. They argue that the U.S. drive to win the cold war made the nation more like its enemies, leading the government to support ruthless anti-Communist tyrants such as Mobutu, Suharto, and Pinochet. They urge Americans away from the pitfall of national self-righteousness toward an active peaceableness—an alert, informed, practiced state of being—deeply contrary to both passivity and war. Above all, the essays assembled in Dissent from the Homeland are a powerful entreaty for thought, analysis, and understanding. Originally published as a special issue of the journal South Atlantic Quarterly, Dissent from the Homeland has been expanded to include new essays as well as a new introduction and postscript. Contributors. Srinivas Aravamudan, Michael J. Baxter, Jean Baudrillard, Robert N. Bellah, Daniel Berrigan, Wendell Berry, Vincent J. Cornell, David James Duncan, Stanley Hauerwas, Fredric Jameson, Frank Lentricchia, Catherine Lutz, Jody McAuliffe, John Milbank, Peter Ochs, Donald E. Pease, Anne R. Slifkin, Rowan Williams, Susan Willis, Slavoj Zizek

Scholars from seven disciplines, whose work spans five continents, announce a new way of seeing disasters that is essential for making sense of our time: critical disaster studies. Critical Disaster Studies strips away the technocratic veneer that too often makes structural problems appear to be acute emergencies.

Studies of genocide and mass atrocity most often focus on their causes and consequences, their aims and effects, and the number of people killed. But if the main goal is death, why is torture necessary? By understanding how and why mass violence occurs and the reasons for its variations, The Macabresque aims to explain why so many seemingly normal or "ordinary" people participate in mass atrocity across cultures and why such egregious violence occurs repeatedly through history.

This theoretical contribution argues that the domination of Western knowledge in disaster scholarship has allowed normative policies and practices of disaster risk reduction to be imposed all over the world. It takes a postcolonial approach to unpack why scholars claim that disasters are social constructs while offering little but theories, concepts and methods supposed to be universal in understanding the unique and diverse experiences of millions of people across very different cultures. It further challenges forms of governments inherited from the Enlightenment that have been rolled out as standard and ultimate solutions to reduce the risk of disaster. Ultimately, the book encourages the emergence of a more diverse set of world views/senses and ways of knowing for both studying disasters and informing policy and practice of disaster risk reduction. Such pluralism is essential to better reflect local realities of what disasters actually are around the world. This book is an essential read for scholars and postgraduate students interested in disaster studies as well as policy-makers and practitioners of disaster risk reduction.