Emergencies in Public Health, disasters, and risk

perspectives and approaches from the social sciences

Abstract

Public health emergencies and disasters are events that cause significant impacts on society, affecting people's lives and daily lives, and their health and safety conditions. The social sciences play a fundamental role in the analysis of such events, by providing a critical perspective on the dimension of social, cultural, political and economic structures. This article seeks to address the concepts of public health emergencies and disasters, and their interrelations with social structures, by analyzing how social theorists work on the theme from the perspective of risk and disaster risk management actions, to better understand the processes of social vulnerability. For this, a bibliographical research was carried out focusing on sociological, conceptual/epistemological approaches, seeking to provide elements for the construction of ideas, technologies and practices that can be added to risk management actions. It was concluded that there is a need for (re)analyses of these phenomena from the point of view of Southern theorists, in addition to expanding the discussion in search of approximation between the sciences and interdisciplinary bases, towards the structuring of a more consensual and plausible theoretical framework for the field of emergencies and disasters.