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Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster
 
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Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster [Paperback]

Mike Davis (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

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The 1990s have not been kind to Los Angeles. As Mike Davis writes, "The destructive February 1992, January 1993, and January 1995 floods ($500 million in damage) were mere brackets around the April 1992 insurrection ($1 billion), the October-November 1993 firestorms ($1 billion) and the January 1994 earthquake ($42 billion)." But, he argues, the increasing fear about nature's reign of terror in Southern California reflected in Hollywood's preoccupation with apocalypse--L.A. has been destroyed on screen by everything from lava (Volcano) to nukes (Miracle Mile) to alien death rays (Independence Day)--is in reality a strong case of denial. Again, Davis himself says it best: "For generations, market-driven urbanization has transgressed environmental common sense. Historic wildfire corridors have been turned into view-lot suburbs, wetland liquefaction zones into marinas, and floodplains into industrial districts and housing tracts. Monolithic public works have been substituted for regional planning and a responsible land ethic. As a result, Southern California has reaped flood, fire, and earthquake tragedies that were as avoidable, as unnatural, as the beating of Rodney King and the ensuing explosion in the streets."

As in City of Quartz, his earlier book about Los Angeles, Davis reveals the deeper ideological narratives behind historical events. Whether he's explaining the motivations behind the persistent refusal of civic leaders to admit that a tornado alley runs down the middle of the region, from Long Beach to Pasadena, or discussing, as one chapter refers to it, "the case for letting Malibu burn," he outlines his arguments with a fascinating amount of detail and a subtle sense of irony. There are wonderful chapters here, such as "Maneaters of the Sierra Madre," a zoology of the wild beasts Angelenos fear, including mountain lions that descend from the hills to eat joggers and small children, swarms of Africanized killer bees making their way across the deserts, and El Chupacabra, the "goat-sucking vampire" that joined L.A.'s roster of faddish icons in 1996.

Although this book is specifically about Los Angeles, its lessons about the relationship between urban developments and natural ecosystems and about the dangerous influence of class politics on environmental safety policy are applicable to any city. Anyone with a serious interest in natural history or urban policy should make a point of reading this book. --Ron Hogan --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

"I'm not summoning Armageddon," affirms Davis, a social historian and urban theorist whose 1990 NBCC-nominated, dystopian history of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, City of Quartz, is now a cult classic. Maybe so, but the portrait of a city on the brink presented in this powerful, if sometimes scattershot, follow-up volume is sure to remind readers of the Book of Revelations. The book takes Davis in a new direction?away from the politics of L.A. urban planning, toward geophysical threats to the city, ranging from earthquakes to fires, floods and killer bees. Davis's polemic will raise as many hackles as concerns: while L.A. officials proclaim each earthquake, flood, mud slide and wildfire as an exceptional event, southern California has been actually enjoying a benign climatic and seismic period, and more serious disasters lie ahead, he argues. These natural catastrophes have been compounded by the fact that in building L.A., developers have largely disregarded the region's topography and environment and built in areas prone to such ravages as wildfires and floods. As the population continues to spread into new areas, there will be, predicts the author, an increase in confrontations between the region's wildlife and settlers, a situation rendered more explosive by the widespread poverty and racial problems endemic to the city, and the vast disparities of relief services. As tense as the situation has become, it will worsen as the gap between the have and have-nots widens, he says. The future Davis envisions is credible and alarming, and his argument is bolstered by prose that is machete sharp and accompanied by an archive of stunning photos. Satellite photographs of L.A. during the riots of 1993 resembled those of an erupting volcano, he shows. Which, in Davis's blistering critique, is precisely what it is. Editor, Sara Bershtel (Aug.) FYI: Davis is a 1998 recipient of a McArthur Fellowship grant.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
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3 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars trademark Mike Davis material, Mar 13 2004
By 
Kris Fulton (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster (Paperback)
Not a sequel to City of Quartz, but a look at current and historical LA from an environmental perspective instead of Quartz's sociological view. Famous for its criticism as much as its content, Ecology Of Fear compiles a staggering amount of information into an informative and compelling story. LA's dynamism is a product of its people, land, water, air, wildlife, history, and future. This is the book that can tell you what life has been and will be like, for those who choose to live in the wilderness of Los Angeles.
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4.0 out of 5 stars You'll like parts and be bored by others..., Feb 15 2004
This review is from: Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster (Paperback)
"Ecology of Fear" is unfortunately a necessary book in which Mike Davis once again denounces how the United States has managed to create a completely Apartheid-like society, but has done such a good job at it that people hardly perceive that they are living in a divided world (in this book, the divisions most commonly pointed out is the one between natural areas and inhabited areas, but we are also shown how a city is divided between poor and wealthy, and nature's role in this division). Nowhere is this more acute than in Los Angeles, the epitome of social division and exploitation of every natural resource. Davis convincingly shows how the natural world is utterly obliterated, with bogus re-creations made in its place where necessary, as a blind eye is turned to all of the destruction and the special interests of the wealthy are always put before those of the have-nots.

This is the aspect of the book that I found most interesting (more sociological and political), but there are chapters for people with different tastes and interests. For movie buffs or sci-fi novel readers, there are very well-documented sections on the portrayal of disasters in the Los Angeles area (I personally found this part less fascinating, because that is not my area of interest, but to many it may be). For environmentalists the book is a must-read on how NOT to manage an urban area. For local historians, there are some great anecdotes on LA history that I had never seen or read anywhere, and my family has lived in the LA area for decades. The saddest part of the book is discovering just how short-sighted people can be when making policy decisions and that capitalism's solution of allowing the power of money and majority opinion to solve everything does not lead those who possess power and wealth to make the soundest decisions in many, if not most, cases.

And who knew that there are tornadoes in Los Angeles?!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Public Gem, Sep 21 2003
By 
J. Ross "jase_kross" (Orange, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster (Paperback)
Ecology of Fear is a public gem, if just, for its inquiry into fire prevention and policy in two differing socioeconomic enclaves of Los Angeles,Ca affluent Malibu and densely immigrant Pico-Union Westlake District. Why a public gem in this respect?? It is a broadly appealing insight into the intersection of 'fire' policy and human welfare. The fire related inquiries alone perhaps will equally interest busy professionals, students, politicians, et.al with a keen interest in policy awareness, yet left with little time or resources for conquering the wealth of information disseminated by Mike Davis. It is likely that a casual read of this book will land the reader into perhaps a fit of rage, or maybe a touch of shame, and possibly even numbness.
Ecology of Fear will likely capture the reader's attention and generate much deliberation.
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