Defining Disaster: Local Constructions for Recovery in the Aftermath of Chemical Contamination

This study analyzes a toxic crisis in which local problems were linked to statewide chemical contamination of the human food chain. In contrast to widely reported community disempowerment following technological disasters, accounts of local activity in Gratiot County, Michigan's weekly newspaper reflect a resilient response in which area interests worked to resolve contamination problems without destroying the social fabric of local life. County leaders defined local capacity in activities that defended local interests, displayed efficacy in dealings with outsiders, and shaped a unified countywide response to the crisis. A constructivist analysis clarifies local officials' assessments of the benefits of working within the system for redress. This response is interpreted within the critical framework of Giddens' structuration theory in order to examine the costs of this strategy in replicating the county's vulnerable position in the larger political-economic framework.