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Law among the ruins

By Jim Chen

	Law Among the Ruins
Two paintings by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Left: King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid (1884). Right: Love Among the Ruins (1893-94).

Herewith a new paper, Law Among the Ruins:

Hurricane Katrina broke America's collective heart. No previous natural disaster in the nation's history inflicted a grimmer toll. New Orleans all but sank when its levees failed and the resulting storm surge drowned much of the city and many of its feeblest residents. Katrina exposed flaws in virtually every aspect of disaster management at every level of government. The magnitude and senselessness of the loss indicted American society for its callous disregard of social vulnerability.

There is no such thing as a natural disaster. Understanding the interplay of environmental events with social conditions holds the key to the optimal application of legal tools for preventing, mitigating, and remedying natural tragedies — the grand social exercise called law among the ruins.

For further information, see the original Jurisdynamics post.

Full post as published by Jurisdynamics on May 30, 2008 (boomark / email).