A New Species of Trouble

In the twentieth century, disasters caused by human beings have become more and more common. Unlike earthquakes and other natural catastrophes, this "new species of trouble" afflicts persons and groups in particularly disruptive ways.

With clear-eyed compassion, in vivid narrative and in participants' own words, Kai Erikson describes how certain communities have faced such disasters. He shows conclusively that new attention must be paid to their experiences if people are to maintain elementary confidence not only in themselves but in society, government, and even life itself.

"Incredibly powerful. . . . A little gem of a book, absolutely gripping in its narratives." —Jonathan Kozol

"The very best kind of social writing—a strong, morally awake, clear-headed effort to understand what has happened, again and again, in our twentieth-century American life—a narration of tragedies of our own making." —Robert Coles

"Vividly illustrates how administrative power and market forces, when they come loose from any communicative relation with the people they affect, can have devastating consequences, destroying the trust without which people cannot live resilient lives." —Robert N. Bellah, coauthor of Habits of the Heart Kai Erikson is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Sociology and American Studies at Yale University.

1995 / paperback / ISBN 0-393-31319-0 / 272 pages / CURRENT EVENTS

• First serial cover story in the New York Times Magazine.
• [Kai Erikson's] discussion of the awesome ramifications of nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain in Nevada . . . will surely assume classical status as a reflection on our era." —Robert Jay Lifton, M.D.