Article ID: CBB071127801

Rhythms of Catastrophe, Iterations of Inequity: Disaster Memory, Dislocation, and Disparity during Pelée’s Eruption of 1929 (2020)

unapi

Mount Pelée, the volcano on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, dramatically erupted in 1902, instantaneously killing thirty thousand people and obliterating the town of Saint-Pierre. With the deadliest eruption in the Western hemisphere, Pelée became the stuff of legends, making its way into postcards and literature the world over before falling silent for almost three decades. A generation later, the volcano erupted once more, this time spreading its effects over three years rather than a few fateful seconds. Historical memory played a pivotal role in the public, scientific, and governmental response to the eruption of 1929, as the rhythms of the environment ran up against human civilization. Greatly overshadowed in both the historiography and popular imagination by the eruption of 1902, the eruption of 1929 underscores the key role played by “disaster memory” in shaping the response to natural disasters. On the one hand, French officials drew on the lessons of the 1902 eruption in ways that helped to ensure the safety of Martinique’s colonial citizens. On the other hand, however, they replicated past approaches to disaster relief that further entrenched the economic disparities and sociopolitical inequities that characterized the colonial world.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB071127801/

Similar Citations

Book Branko Milanovic; (2016)
Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization (/isis/citation/CBB248946476/)

Book Domenico Carro; (2021)
Quadriremi vs. Vesuvio. L'operazione navale di soccorso condotta da Plinio nel 79 D.C. (/isis/citation/CBB212703608/)

Book Wolfgang Behringer; (2019)
Tambora and the Year without a Summer: How a Volcano Plunged the World into Crisis (/isis/citation/CBB421036085/)

Chapter Wilson, Andrew; (2013)
The Mediterranean Environment in Ancient History: Perspectives and Prospects (/isis/citation/CBB001422317/)

Article Wood, Gillen D'Arcy; (2008)
The Volcano Lover: Climate, Colonialism, and the Slave Trade in Raffles's History of Java (1817) (/isis/citation/CBB001032326/)

Article Maria Margaret Lopes; Silvia Fernanda de Mendonça Figueirôa; (2020)
The History of Geology Meets Disasters: A Brazilian Perspective (/isis/citation/CBB745792547/)

Article Greg Bankoff; (2020)
Under the Volcano: Mount Mayon and Co-Volcanic Societies in the Philippines (/isis/citation/CBB229580761/)

Article Terry-Ann Jones; (June 2017)
Migration as a Response to Internal Colonialism in Brazil (/isis/citation/CBB184786791/)

Chapter Vittoria Bufanio; (2022)
L’eruzione del 1257 tra cronisti e vulcanologi (/isis/citation/CBB701476066/)

Article Principe, Claudia; Annarita Paolillo; Sonia La Felice; Simone Arrighi; (2021)
Forma Vesuvii – 2 - Volcanic morphology at the time of the 79 AD Plinian Eruption (/isis/citation/CBB048930271/)

Book Karel Martens; (2017)
Transport Justice: Designing fair transportation systems (/isis/citation/CBB509375326/)

Article Aliakbar Akbaritabar; Flaminio Squazzoni; (May 2021)
Gender Patterns of Publication in Top Sociological Journals (/isis/citation/CBB721191179/)

Book Hartmut Berghoff; Jan Logemann; Felix Römer; (2017)
The Consumer on the Home Front: Second World War Civilian Consumption in Comparative Perspective (/isis/citation/CBB363431823/)

Article Robert R. Gradie; David A. Poirier; (1991)
Small-Scale Hydropower Development: Archeological and Historical Perspectives from Connecticut (/isis/citation/CBB181273462/)

Book Walker, Charles F.; (2008)
Shaky Colonialism: The 1746 Earthquake-Tsunami in Lima, Peru, and Its Long Aftermath (/isis/citation/CBB001031478/)

Authors & Contributors
Principe, Claudia
Mary Rose Boswell
Carro, Domenico
Karel Martens
Milanovic, Branko
Annarita Paolillo
Concepts
Disasters; catastrophes
Comparison
Volcanoes and volcanology
Environmental history
Equality
Earthquakes
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
Ancient
19th century
18th century
Early modern
Places
United States
Japan
Europe
Soviet Union
Brazil
New Hampshire (U.S.)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment