18/02/2027 12:00

Sala Descubre/Online Teams. Edificio 8E. Acceso J - 4ª Planta | Universitat Politècnica de València. 46022

Abstract:

Over the past decade, the recognition of the constraints faced by public administrations during emergency responses to disasters has prompted growing scholarly interest in so-called community resilience, or the role of networks in disaster response. Nevertheless, affected communities do not merely need an emergency response but a voice in the reconstruction process. In turn, this additional demand creates a need for specialized and scientific knowledge since, as the sociology of disasters literature emphasizes, emergency response is typically characterized by urgent action, while long-term reconstruction is shaped by administrative processes, modeling, and specialized knowledge. In this regard, a growing STS literature has documented the severe challenges faced by policymakers in gaining access to scientific knowledge, difficulties that are compounded when it comes to disaster victims, neighbors, and street activists. Novel knowledge transfer arrangements such as citizen science or hybrid forums may prove helpful, but their effectiveness is unclear in a disaster context. How, then, can community networks gain access to the knowledge necessary to participate in post-disaster reconstruction? I address this question through an 18-month, multisite ethnography of the reconstruction following the October 2024 flash floods in Valencia. The study includes participation in an expert committee, the organization of academic workshops, encounters between scientists and activists, and involvement in a public policy initiative aimed at improving regional governance. 

Bio:

Daniel Beunza is Professor of Social Studies of Finance at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass). Beunza's research explores the ways in which social relations and technology shape financial value. His award-winning ethnography of a derivatives trading room on a Wall Street bank traced the roots of extraordinary returns to the use of space and internal organization. Beunza’s recent book, “Taking the Floor: Models, Morals and Management in a Wall Street Trading Room” (Princeton University Press) is an ethnographic study of moral consequences of the use of economic models on Wall Street, and won the 2020 George Terry Award by the Academy of Management and the 2020 Best Book Award by the European Group on Organisation Studies (EGOS). Beunza obtained his PhD from New York University, and has previously taught at Columbia University, the London School of Economics and Copenhagen Business School. His research has been published in Organization Science, Organization Studies and Economy and Society. Beunza is a leading contributor to the social studies of finance literature, and edited the blog Socializing Finance. He has served as Chair of the Academic Network of the Principles of Responsible Investment, and collaborated with the UK Banking Standards Board on the use of ethnography to enhance professional standards in the UK’s financial sector.

____________________________________________________________

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/3306371923538315?p=tSBdIapU7cfhavTbeY

Meeting ID: 330 637 192 353 831 5

Passcode: fv2Tw7UP