The game changes: “Disaster Prevention and Management” after a quarter of a century

The purpose of this paper is to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Disaster Prevention and Management. It reviews the modern-day challenges facing researchers, scholars and practitioners who work in the field of disaster risk reduction (DRR).

The paper reviews key issues in DRR, including the relationship between capital and labour and its influence on vulnerability, the role of human mobility and migration in disaster vulnerability and the definition of welfare.

There is a need for a major revision in the body of disaster theory so that it can take account dynamic changes in the modern world. In the future, climate change and migration may radically alter the bases of vulnerability, risk and impact. The ways in which this will occur are not yet clear, but indications can be gained from current trends and the state of foment in which the world presently exists.

Prediction of future developments is always subject to the caveat that unexpected influences may change the expected course of events. However, the authors need to anticipate developments in order to produce theory, policies and practical solutions that are well-thought-out and viable.

Disaster theory must adapt to new conditions if it is to remain the “road-map” that clarifies complex realities and enables disasters to be managed and abated.

Huge changes in the stability, expectations and vulnerabilities of populations are underway. These need to be understood much more fully in terms of their ability to influence disaster risks and impacts.

Presently, few analyses of the dynamism of global society are able to present a clear picture of the future needs of theory generation, scholarship and research.