Catastrophic scenarios dominate our contemporary mindset. Catastrophic events and predictions
have spurred new interest in re-examining the history of earlier disasters and the social and
conceptual resources they have mobilized. The essays gathered in this volume reconsider the
history and theory of different catastrophes and their aftermath. The emphasis is on the need
to distance this process of reconsideration from previous teleological representations of
catastrophes as an endpoint and to begin considering their operative aspects which unmask the
nature of social and political structures. Among the essays in this volume are analyses by
leading scholars in their respective fields concerning the role of catastrophes in theology
in the history of industrial accidents in theory of history in the history of law in
catastrophe films in the history of cybernetics in post-Holocaust discussions of reparations
and in climate change.
