Want to know what books Ilan Kelman recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Ilan Kelman's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Ilan KelmanThis is one of the earlier academic attempts covering the problem of disasters and conflict, examining root causes of disaster in terms of the politics and how political approaches can and must be used to solve the disasters. It outlines myths about disasters and how those myths should be tackled. (Source)
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2
This book addresses the long-overdue imbalance in disaster management: an over-emphasis on post-disaster assistance and a lack of attention to vulnerability reduction. It answers the fundamental question in this debate: how can we mould pre-disaster development initiatives to become the most appropriate means for vulnerability reduction The book reasserts and reapplies some of the basic concepts and issues which emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, with the message that development is a prime medium both of vulnerability and its reduction. The author examines requirements for long-term change so... more This book addresses the long-overdue imbalance in disaster management: an over-emphasis on post-disaster assistance and a lack of attention to vulnerability reduction. It answers the fundamental question in this debate: how can we mould pre-disaster development initiatives to become the most appropriate means for vulnerability reduction The book reasserts and reapplies some of the basic concepts and issues which emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, with the message that development is a prime medium both of vulnerability and its reduction. The author examines requirements for long-term change so that conditions which have become the context for catastrophe can be modified. By focusing on longer-term policies and activities now, emergency relief efforts have a positive context within which to contribute to development and the likelihood of recurrence will be reduced. The book contains case-studies from Sri Lanka, the Caribbean and the South Pacific and focuses on hazards of all kinds, setting out to redress the balance between large-scale disasters of global significance and small-scale disasters that are a matter of everyday existence. less Ilan KelmanDevelopment in Disaster-Prone Places is another must-read in terms of how to understand vulnerability and disasters. The book focuses on the political and social processes which lead to disasters – the long-term processes. The author gives the theory and looks at a lot of case studies around the world of these failures in practice and how to improve. People and governments don’t tend to think in... (Source)
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3
Henrik Ibsen, James McFarlane | 4.44
Taken from the Oxford Ibsen, this collection of Ibsen's plays includes An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck, and Rosmersholm.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
more Taken from the Oxford Ibsen, this collection of Ibsen's plays includes An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck, and Rosmersholm.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
less Ilan KelmanAn Enemy of the People is set in a small town which has decided to build baths (spas) to bring prosperity to the community. It turns out that the baths are contaminated with pollution and there is a risk that the tourists who come and use the baths will get ill. (Source)
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4
The term 'natural disaster' is often used to refer to natural events such as earthquakes, hurricanes or floods. However, the phrase 'natural disaster' suggests an uncritical acceptance of a deeply engrained ideological and cultural myth. At Risk questions this myth and argues that extreme natural events are not disasters until a vulnerable group of people is exposed.
The updated new edition confronts a further ten years of ever more expensive and deadly disasters and discusses disaster not as an aberration, but as a signal failure of mainstream 'development'. Two... more The term 'natural disaster' is often used to refer to natural events such as earthquakes, hurricanes or floods. However, the phrase 'natural disaster' suggests an uncritical acceptance of a deeply engrained ideological and cultural myth. At Risk questions this myth and argues that extreme natural events are not disasters until a vulnerable group of people is exposed.
The updated new edition confronts a further ten years of ever more expensive and deadly disasters and discusses disaster not as an aberration, but as a signal failure of mainstream 'development'. Two analytical models are provided as tools for understanding vulnerability. One links remote and distant 'root causes' to 'unsafe conditions' in a 'progression of vulnerability'. The other uses the concepts of 'access' and 'livelihood' to understand why some households are more vulnerable than others.
Examining key natural events and incorporating strategies to create a safer world, this revised edition is an important resource for those involved in the fields of environment and development studies. less 
Khurshid AlamThis book details a theoretical model called the crunch model, which in my opinion remains the most powerful way of understanding the impact of disasters. It’s very simple: imagine a group of vulnerable people living on low land – the hazard is obviously water. When the vulnerability and hazard come together in the form of a flood, the two factors are multiplied to equal the scale of the disaster. (Source)
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5
Clarke's masterful evocation of the far future of humanity, considered his finest novel.
Men had built cities before, but never such a city as Diaspar. For millennia its protective dome shut out the creeping decay and danger of the world outside. Once, it held powers that rule the stars.
But then, as legend has it, the invaders came, driving humanity into this last refuge. It takes one man, a Unique, to break through Diaspar's stifling inertia, to smash the legend and discover the true nature of the Invaders. more Clarke's masterful evocation of the far future of humanity, considered his finest novel.
Men had built cities before, but never such a city as Diaspar. For millennia its protective dome shut out the creeping decay and danger of the world outside. Once, it held powers that rule the stars.
But then, as legend has it, the invaders came, driving humanity into this last refuge. It takes one man, a Unique, to break through Diaspar's stifling inertia, to smash the legend and discover the true nature of the Invaders. less 
Ryan HolidayI’ve never really been a science fiction fan but The City and The Stars by Arthur C. Clarke was beautiful and moving. (Source)
Ilan KelmanThe City and the Stars is a book which is about trying to reconcile two different communities which serve as a metaphor for two different worlds. The way the reconciliation happens is through creating crisis, and trying to search beyond one’s own experiences and world view in order to create a better future out of that crisis. (Source)
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