In a world of increasingly prominent hazards and disasters, from those with their genesis in natural events such as the South Asian tsunami, to human-induced atrocities and terrorist attacks, and the profound effects of climate change, this collection provides a timely assessment of these critical themes. Presenting the top selections from Susan L. Cutter 's twenty-five years of scholarship on hazards, vulnerability, and environmental justice, this collection brings together powerful and difficult-to-find literature, framed by a fresh introduction that maps out the terrain and draws out the salient themes and conclusions. This essential collection is ideal for academics and students studying hazards, risk, disasters, and environmental justice across a range of disciplines.

Susan L. Cutter is a Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography and Director of the Hazards Research Lab at the University of South Carolina. She was formerly President of the Association of American Geographers.

Part I: Old, New, and Familiar Hazards * The Changing Landscape of Fear * Chemical Hazards in Urban America * Fleeing from Harm: International Trends in Evacuations from Chemical Accidents * Ecocide in Babylonia * The Forgotten Casualties: Women, Children and Environmental Change * Part II: Vulnerability to Threats * Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards * Revealing the Vulnerability of People and Places: A Case Study of Georgetown County, South Carolina * Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards * The Science of Vulnerability and the Vulnerability of Science * Part III: Societal Responses to Threats * Societal Responses to Environmental Hazards * Risk Cognition and the Public: The Case of Three Mile Island * En-gendered Fears: Femininity and Technological Risk Perception * Evacuation Behaviour and Three Mile Island * Crying Wolf: Repeat Responses to Hurricane Evacuation Orders * Public Orders and Personal Opinions: Household Strategies for Hurricane Risk Assessment * Part IV: Environmental Justice * Race, Class and Environmental Justice * Issues in Environmental Justice Research * The Role of Geographic Scale in Monitoring Environmental Justice * Setting Environmental Justice in Space and Place: Acute and Chronic Airborne Toxic Releases in the Southeastern United States * Using Relative Risk Indicators to Disclose Toxic Hazard Information to Communities * Dumping in Dixie Revisited: The Evolution of Environmental Injustices in South Carolina * Part V: From Theory to Practice * Emergency Preparedness and Planning for Nuclear Power Plant Accidents * Airborne Toxic Releases: Are Communities Prepared? * Geographers and Nuclear War: Why We Lack Influence on Public Policy * Emerging Hurricane Evacuation Issues: Hurricane Floyd and South Carolina * GIScience, Disasters and Emergency Management