Citizens without a City
Destruction and Despair after the L'Aquila Earthquake
Published by: Indiana University Press
296 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in, 22 b&w illus.
This book can be purchased from this website 60 days before the publish date
- Paperback
- 9780253058867
- Published: February 2022
$30.00
This book can be purchased from this website 60 days before the publish date
- eBook
- 9780253058881
- Published: February 2022
$29.99
This book can be purchased from this website 60 days before the publish date
- Hardcover
- 9780253058850
- Published: February 2022
$70.00
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In 2009, after a massive and deadly earthquake struck the remote Italian mountain town of L'Aquila, survivors were subjected to a "second earthquake"—the media attention and the subsequent relief effort that left them in a state of suspended citizenship as they were forced to resettle.
In Citizens without a City, Jan-Jonathan Bock reveals the disproportionate and intimidating government response that contributed to survivors' sense of emergency and crisis as much as the initial natural disaster did. Italy's disenfranchising emergency reaction relocated survivors to remote resettlement sites surrounding a ruined townscape, without any clear plan for restoration or return. Bock combines an analysis of the catastrophe and its aftermath with unexplored dimensions of recovery: grassroots engagement, urban citizenship, and civic identity.
A fascinating read for anyone interested in the politics of disaster relief, Citizens without a City illustrates how survivors tried to remake effective political agency—and their lives—in a ruined town.