The Tout-Monde of disaster studies.

This essay expands the postcolonial agenda for future disaster studies that we suggested in the conclusion of the book The Invention of Disaster. It provides some refined perspectives on how to capture the diversity and complexity of the world that we draw from the philosophy of Martinican poet and novelist Edouard Glissant. Glissant's philosophy of creolisation and relation offers critical pathways towards pluralistic approaches to understanding what we call disaster in a world that is marked by hybridity and relationships rather than essentialism and nativism. A Tout-Monde, in Glissant's terms, that is the combined additions of different and hybrid interpretations of disaster. Contribution: Exploring the Tout-Monde of disaster studies will constitute a radical and forward-looking postcolonial agenda; radical in the sense that it will challenge many of our scholarly assumptions, popular discourses as well as common-sense policies and practices.

Academic publishing in disaster risk reduction: past, present, and future.

Nowadays there are approximately 80 Anglophone journals that deal primarily with disaster risk reduction (DRR) and allied fields. This large array signals a sustained, if uneven, growth in DRR scholarship but also competition between the offerings of different publishers and institutions. The purpose of this article is first to summarise the development of academic publishing on DRR from its early beginnings to the present day. The paper then evaluates the current state of publishing in this field and discusses possible future trends. Next, it identifies some possible opportunities, challenges, expectations, and commitments for journal editors both within DRR and academia more broadly, including those that refer to changes in the use of terminology, the relentless increase in the number of papers submitted, the expansion and dangers of predatory journals, different peer review models, open access versus paywalls, citations and bibliography metrics, academic social networks, and copyright and distribution issues.

Disaster studies inside out.

Disaster studies is faced with a fascinating anomaly: frequently it claims to be critical and innovative, as suggested by the so-called vulnerability paradigm that emerged more than 40 years ago, yet often it is perpetuating some of the core and problematic tenets of the hazard paradigm that we were asked to challenge initially. This paper interrogates why such an anomaly persists. In so doing, it employs Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony to unpack why disaster studies is still dominated by Western epistemologies and scholars that perpetuate an orientalist view of disasters. Ultimately, it suggests a research agenda for the 40 years to come, which builds on the importance of local researchers analysing local disasters using local epistemologies, especially in the non-Western world. Such subaltern disaster studies are to be fuelled by increasing consciousness of the need to resist the hegemony of Western scholarship and to relocate disaster studies within the realm of its original political agenda.

Experimental separation steps influence the protein content of corona around mesoporous silica nanoparticles.

In order to direct nanocarriers to their targets efficiently, we have to understand the interactions occurring at the nano-bio interface between nanocarriers and human proteins, which forms the layer called the corona. However, experiments aiming to identify and quantify the proteins in the corona, especially critical steps in the separation of nanoparticles from biological media may affect the corona composition. Here, we used nano-LC MS/MS to compare the protein corona contents obtained after using two different separation methods. We showed that applying centrifugation versus magnetization to isolate nanoparticles surrounded by a corona resulted in protein loss and a reshuffling of their respective abundances.

Beyond men and women: a critical perspective on gender and disaster.

Consideration of gender in the disaster sphere has centred almost exclusively on the vulnerability and capacities of women. This trend stems from a polarised Western understanding of gender as a binary concept of man-woman. Such an approach also mirrors the dominant framing of disasters and disaster risk reduction (DRR), emphasising Western standards and practices to the detriment of local, non-Western identities and experiences. This paper argues that the man-woman dichotomy is an insufficient construct with which to address the gendered dimensions of a disaster as it fails to capture the realities of diverse gender minorities in non-Western contexts. The paper presents case studies from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Samoa, where gender minorities display specific patterns of vulnerability associated with their marginal positions in society, yet, importantly, also possess a wide array of endogenous capacities. Recognition of these differences, needs, skills, and unique resources is essential to moving towards inclusive and gender-sensitive DRR.

Water, sanitation and hygiene for homeless people.

This short communication provides insights into water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for homeless people through a scoping study conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It investigates homeless access to WASH through the lens of a rights-based approach. It demonstrates that homeless people's denial of their right to WASH reflects their marginal position in society and an unequal distribution of power and opportunities. The study ultimately suggests a rights-based approach to work toward dealing with the root causes of discrimination and marginalisation rather than just the symptoms. For the homeless, who not only lack substantive rights, but also the means through which to claim their rights, an integrated rights-based approach to WASH offers the possibility for social inclusion and significant improvements in their life conditions. Given the unique deprivation of homelessness it is argued that in addressing the lack of access to adequate WASH for homeless people the immediate goal should be the fulfilment and protection of the right to adequate shelter.