Fabien Nathan - La régulation sociale des risques de catastrophe

Ltude des risques est aujourdhui en plein essor. Un regard nouveau est port sur des problmatiques anciennes, notamment celles lies lordre social, au pouvoir, aux ingalits, la pauvret, ou encore aux rapports Nord/Sud. Cette volution est par ailleurs concomitante avec laugmentation de la vulnrabilit aux alas et consquemment des catastrophes, dsormais considre comme un problme de dveloppement au Sud comme au Nord.
Sinscrivant dans ce renouveau des tudes sur les risques et les catastrophes, Fabien Nathan sest intress aux communauts pauvres et indignes des quartiers priphriques de La Paz. Pourquoi une grande partie de leurs habitants sont-ils exposs aux alas naturels (glissements de terrain, coules de boue) ? Comment ces alas se transforment-ils en catastrophes (non naturelles) ? Il interroge galement la manire dont les habitants vivent avec le risque et construisent leur rsilience pour vivre mieux, dans des situations que les observateurs extrieurs pourraient souvent qualifier dinsoutenables ou dirrationnelles.
Pour comprendre ces faits sociaux totaux que sont les risques, lauteur remonte leurs causes et dvoile le processus de leur construction travers le temps et lespace. Son livre ne se limite pas une ethnographie dtaille de quartiers vulnrables ; il contribue galement repenser les relations mutuelles entre alas naturels et systmes sociaux, notamment travers des concepts tels que la rgulation sociale des risques, lapprivoisement des peurs ou encore les stratgies de perception.

Studies on Risk and Vulnerability are increasing at a rapid rate. This field of research sheds new light on old paradigms such as social order, power, inequality and poverty as well as on North-South relations. Its expansion is linked to increased vulnerability to hazards and the subsequent rise in disasters, now considered as development problems in both the North and South.
This book forms part of the new stream of risk and disaster studies by focusing on poor indigenous communities in the suburbs of La Paz. It seeks to understand and explain why so many of the local inhabitants are exposed to natural hazards (landslides, mudslides), which sometimes transform into unnatural disasters. It also examines how they learn to live with risk, building resilience to live better lives, even in situations that external observers would qualify as unsustainable or irrational.
By seeking to understand risks as total social facts, the author returns to their origins, revealing the way in which they have formed over time and place. The book does not restrict itself to a detailed ethnography of vulnerable neighborhoods. It also contributes to rethinking the mutual relationship between natural hazards and social systems. Concepts such as social regulation of risks, taming of fear, perception strategy as well as many more are explored.