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I am interested in seeing how social ties and networks have been used to cope with (un)natural disasters. My research focus on places under disasters conditions such as Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria, in which social ties have made the difference between life and death. Furthermore, “natural” disaster has been used to approved austerity measures and unjust policies to impoverished communities like in New Orleans after Katrina. These policies were not new, as they are rooted in structures of power to preserve the status quo. Yet, people have resisted, “through a network of branches, cultures, and geographies” that has stimulated a reflective process of looking within for solutions rather than outside. As often this outside solutions are not only detached from community’s reality but can perpetuate social injustices and inequalities.

McKittrick, K., & Woods, C. A. (Eds.). (2007). Black geographies and the politics of place. South End Press.

Bullard, R. D., & Wright, B. (Eds.). (2009). Race, place, and environmental justice after Hurricane Katrina: Struggles to reclaim, rebuild, and revitalize New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Westview Press.

Through her field work, the author is able to create a concise argument by using interviews and anecdotes by those affected by the disaster in Chernobyl. She also highlights aspects of the disaster itself, highlight pre, peri, and post events that had an impact on the area and populations exposed. She also provides some data regarding an increase in clinical registration of illnesses that have occurred under the title "symptoms and other indequately known states", that show a sharp increase after the event. 

No bibliography for this article was provided or readily available on the internet. Based on the article and Dr. Good's works, it is likely that much of the information for the article was drawn from new research.

This study was funded by Grants-in-aid for the Cancer Control Policy from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. 

1. "..."that is the perceptual world in which we find outselves and to which we are oriented, is organized through language and symbolic forms, as well as through social and institutional relations and practical activities in that world."
2. "His illness had a powerful and meaningful beginning, which gave shape and coherence to the larger narrative."
3. "It is tempting for a medical social scientist to enumerate the cultural beliefs concerning the cause and workings of epilepsy, then compare these with beliefs in other societies. People of course reason about illness, and culture provides the logic of that rationality."

According to Google Scholar, this article has been cited 22 times in various works, with topics mainly focusing on the effects of humanitarian aid and social welfare on groups that are considered to be in the gender based minority, including women and the LBGTQ community.