Abstract:In 2004 and 2005, a series of hurricanes caused record homeowner insurance losses in Florida and Louisiana. Despite comparably sized losses, the two states responded differently to these shocks. Florida expanded state subsidized homeowner insurance, breaking from a free market response, whereas Louisiana actively promoted private market supply. Comparing the two policy processes reveals that the politics and transformation of homeowner insurance evoked by extreme weather events depend on how concentrated the h… Show more
“…Local officials worry about the viability of the tax base. In the US, this has set in motion a reactive politics around defending property investments, with coalitions of homeowners, real estate and construction interests, local officials, and chambers of commerce mobilizing to blunt the force of insurance-led devaluations of hazardous areas [Elliott 2017b; Weinkle and Pielke, Jr. 2017; Checker 2017; Ubert 2017]. Take the specific case of flood insurance, which is publicly provided through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).…”
Climate change involves human societies in problems of loss: depletion, disappearance, and collapse. The climate changes and changes other things, in specifically destructive ways. What can and should sociology endeavour to know about this particular form of social change? This article outlines the sociology of loss as a project for sociological engagement with climate change, one that breaks out of environmental sociology as the conventional silo of research and bridges to other subfields. I address four interrelated dimensions of loss that climate change presents: the materiality of loss; the politics of loss; knowledge of loss; and practices of loss. Unlike “sustainability”—the more dominant framing in the social sciences of climate change—the sociology of loss examines what does, will, or must disappear rather than what can or should be sustained. Though the sociology of loss requires a confrontation with the melancholia of suffering people and places, it also speaks to new solidarities and positive transformations.
“…Local officials worry about the viability of the tax base. In the US, this has set in motion a reactive politics around defending property investments, with coalitions of homeowners, real estate and construction interests, local officials, and chambers of commerce mobilizing to blunt the force of insurance-led devaluations of hazardous areas [Elliott 2017b; Weinkle and Pielke, Jr. 2017; Checker 2017; Ubert 2017]. Take the specific case of flood insurance, which is publicly provided through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).…”
Climate change involves human societies in problems of loss: depletion, disappearance, and collapse. The climate changes and changes other things, in specifically destructive ways. What can and should sociology endeavour to know about this particular form of social change? This article outlines the sociology of loss as a project for sociological engagement with climate change, one that breaks out of environmental sociology as the conventional silo of research and bridges to other subfields. I address four interrelated dimensions of loss that climate change presents: the materiality of loss; the politics of loss; knowledge of loss; and practices of loss. Unlike “sustainability”—the more dominant framing in the social sciences of climate change—the sociology of loss examines what does, will, or must disappear rather than what can or should be sustained. Though the sociology of loss requires a confrontation with the melancholia of suffering people and places, it also speaks to new solidarities and positive transformations.
“…It requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the [NFIP], to subsidize premiums … Reform efforts in recent years have fallen short … The biggest change would be to have premiums reflect the actual overall risk. Previous attempts to quickly increase their cost over just a few years faltered after policyholders and their elected representatives pushed back (Editorial Board, ).As Hurricane Irma approached Florida, a sociologist in a Washington Post op‐ed expressed a similar sentiment:Don't be surprised if, once again, Florida's homeowners are able to pressure their politicians into abandoning their support for private insurance markets, instead subsidizing hurricane risks” (Ubert ).…”
Section: The Conventional Wisdommentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Don't be surprised if, once again, Florida's homeowners are able to pressure their politicians into abandoning their support for private insurance markets, instead subsidizing hurricane risks” (Ubert ).…”
Using historical context and brief case studies of hurricane risk science, this article illustrates the intimate relationship between the insurance industry and scientific researchers largely assumed to be external to the industry. This paper argues that the extent to which the insurance industry directs, funds, and validates the production and use of science for estimating risk is itself a full blown political enterprise that functions to prioritize industry interests in views of hurricane risk and potentially narrow the broader discussion of disaster losses to the single solution of insurance pricing. The situation presents what has recently been termed the "governor's dilemma." Regulators face losing control over industry's influence on understandings of society's hurricane risk; at the same time, greater control over the research effort may stymie advancement in knowledge needed for effective risk management.
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