Contamination, Corrosion and the Social Order: An Overview

The social impacts of technological disasters are more severe than those of natural disasters. Three factors are involved in explaining this disparity. First, many of the most severe impacts are associated not with simple physical destruction, but with the ambiguity of harm. Many of the most disturbing forms of technological contamination cannot be detected by the naked eye or by the other unaided senses; many cannot be assessed after the fact even with sophisticated equipment; and many can never be said definitively to have ended, or for that matter, not to have ended. Second, unlike natural disasters - which often lead to the emergence of a `therapeutic' community, with an outpouring of spontaneous as well as official assistance to victims - technological disasters tend to be followed by the emergence of corrosive communities, often characterized by lawyers who act to limit the potential liability of their clients, but whose net effect is often to blame the victims, to divide the community and to delay or to prevent the start of recovery. Finally, technological disasters can create widespread sociocultural disruption and concerns over recreancy, raising disturbing questions about the trustworthiness of societal institutions on which we all depend.