Icelanders and Disasters: Economic Perspectives on Risk, Resilience, and Recovery from Iceland

Gylfi Magnússon ()
Additional contact information
Gylfi Magnússon: University of Iceland

A chapter in Crisis in Context, 2026, pp 111-129 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter examines how crises are understood and constructed within Icelandic society, not only through the commonly used lens of natural disasters and their associated risks but also man-made risk. By analyzing public discourse, cultural narratives, and institutional responses, the chapter explores the complex interplay between uncertainty and crisis, emphasizing how crisis is not merely a response to catastrophic events but also a culturally and socially mediated concept. Drawing on Iceland's unique environmental conditions and historical experiences with natural hazards such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, extreme weather, and living on the Malthusian frontier for centuries, the chapter reveals how these events are framed as crises within specific socio-political contexts. It situates the discussion within broader theoretical debates on risk to society, uncertainty, and crisis construction, ultimately arguing that crises in Iceland are shaped as much by cultural and political interpretations as by the material events themselves.

Keywords: Crisis; Risk; Uncertainty; Natural disasters; Iceland; Crisis construction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-02657-6_7

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783032026576

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-02657-6_7

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().