In Disaster Nationalism, Vivian Y. Choi examines how the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami fostered new forms of governance and militarization during Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war, both of which led to enduring forms of precarity and insecurity. Tracing the development of disaster management projects following the tsunami, Choi demonstrates how these projects rest on a logic that treats natural disasters and terrorism as inevitable risks in need of management. The tsunami’s destruction foreclosed the possibility of political resolution to the war, as these projects were leveraged by the state to justify its militarized aggression in the war against the Tamil Tigers and a new construction of the Sri Lankan nation. Paradoxically, Choi reveals how state-sponsored disaster management projects—from new buffer and border zones to early warning systems—created more insecurity for Sri Lankans. Foregrounding ethnographic narratives, Choi amplifies the experiences of those affected by the tsunami, particularly Tamil and Muslim communities. In so doing, Choi shows how life perseveres against perpetual uncertainty and danger—caused by natural disasters and state-sanctioned violence alike.

Vivian Choi is Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at St. Olaf College.

“Vivian Y. Choi’s portrayal and analysis of how disasters are endured by people, portrayed by the media and strategized by governments as well as her descriptions of the different kinds of sensing that disasters provoke—from scientists and people living in disaster zones to the government’s disaster warning systems—are exemplary and important. With this analysis, she draws disaster studies into an important stream of work in the history and anthropology of science that examines forms of knowledge and knowledge representation that secure legitimacy in different historical and cultural settings.”
-- Kim Fortun, author of Advocacy after Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disaster, New Global Orders

Note on Transliteration  ix
Abbreviations  xi
Preface: The Struggle Endures  xiii
Acknowledgments  xvii
Interlude  1
Introduction  3
Interlude  35
1. Emergence  37
Interlude  57
2. Anticipation  59
Interlude  77
3. Endurance  79
Interlude  101
4. Reiteration  103
Interlude  135
An End  137
Notes  147
References  159
Index