Sociology has developed theories of social change in the fields of evolution, conflict and modernization, viewing modern society as essentially unstable and conflict driven. However, it has not seriously studied catastrophe.A Theory of Catastrophe develops a sociology of catastrophes, comparing natural, social and political causes and consequences, and the social theories that might offer explanations.
A catastrophe is a general and systematic breakdown of social and political institutions resulting, among other things, in what we could call a catastrophe consciousness.
T e Greek 'cata-strophe' formed the conclusion to a dramatic sequence of strophes. The cata-strophe was the final act of a drama, namely its denouement. Catastrophic denouements are without hope: genocides, military occupations, plagues, famines and earthquakes.A Theory of Catastrophe analyzes Pompeii, the Black Death, colonial genocide in North America, WWI and the Spanish Flu, and Nazi Germany and finally this century: terrorism, new wars, climate change and pandemics.
As a study of sociological theory, Bryan Turner discusses Spengler'sDecline of the West, Marxism as a theory of catastrophic capitalism, messianic movements, Weber on modernity, and risk society. He concludes by comparing optimism and pessimism, and the idea of inter-generational justice.
Angelus Novus
‘The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what is smashed. But a storm is blowing up from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. This storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while a pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress,’
WalterBenjamin (1973: 259 – 260),Theses on the Philosophy of History
Paul Klee’s monoprint (an oil transfer with watercolour on paper) of the angel of history is the jacket cover for this study of catastrophe. Walter Benjamin (1892 – 1940) bought the monoprint in 1921 for 1,000 marks. His friend Gershom Scholem has given an intimate account of the importance of the picture for Benjamin’s life in an essay ‘Walter Benjamin and his Angel’ inJews and Judaism in Crisis (Dannhauser, 1976). In fact, Benjamin had intended to create a journal in the 1920s calledAngelus Novus. I dwell on this image at this stage to grasp the significance of the tradition in Judaism of writing on Talmudic angels of which Benjamin was well aware (Handelman, 1991). The theme of messianic hope in Judaism is an important theme running through this account of modern catastrophes. The theme of messianism also illustrates the significant gap that existed between the secular Marxism of the Frankfurt Centre during Benjamin’s involvement in the research group. There is, as I show in subsequent chapters, an important overlap between the secular-Marxist hope for a society based on equality and mutual respect and the Jewish-Christian hope for a world to come.
Benjamin committed suicide, escaping from the advancingWehrmacht, and carrying the Klee painting with him, at Port Bou on the French-Spanish border. The work of Benjamin and other members of the Frankfurt School plays an important part in this study of catastrophes. As Jewish victims of fascism, their theories have played an important role in many critical responses to the Holocaust, Auschwitz, modern technological, militarism, capitalist development and Enlightenment ideas on the inevitability of progress. Any theory of catastrophe will have to take the legacy of the Frankfurt School seriously, especially Benjamin’s relationship to messianic visions of time and Marxist views on revolutionary disruptions to history.
When a contemporary author announces that he or she is writing a book about catastrophes, a common response may be to condemn all such authors as pessimistic ‘doom sayers’. In many circumstances, as a sign of hope, this may be an apt response. However, the crises of recent years are numerous, global, and overwhelming. We may expect to see many volumes appearing with titles referring to catastrophe. I mention two here. Incatastrophes: views from natural and human sciences, AndreasHoppe (2019) conflates a variety of different, if related, concepts: hazards, disasters, crises and catastrophes. One aspect of my approach is to avoid what can be regarded as conceptual promiscuity. Hazards – such as a foggy morning – are not equivalent to catastrophes. Another volume which is much closer to my project is Heinrich AugustWinkler (2015)The Age ofCatastrophe1914 – 1945. This volume, which was published in G
