Reflecting on Ben Wisner’s Contributions to Scholarship and Scholars

Ben Wisner is an activist scholar who finds himself tempted by nostalgia for the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, when he worked to understand and address disaster risk with civil society and local government in a number of countries in eastern and southern Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In his eighties, he watches the autumn leaves turn colour, contemplates the cycle of life, death and rebirth, and wonders what impact his university teaching and publications have had. The warm southwest wind whispers the names of his many co-authors, co-editors and research partners. He is grateful for them all.JC Gaillard is Ahorangi o te Matawhenua/Professor of Geography at Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland. His work focuses on power and inclusion in disaster and disaster studies. It includes developing participatory tools for engaging minority groups in disaster risk reduction, with an emphasis on cultural and gender minorities, people in detention and children.Ilan Kelman is Professor of Disasters and Health at University College London, England and Professor II at the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. His overall research interest is linking disasters and health, integrating climate change into both. Three main areas are: (i) disaster diplomacy and health diplomacy; (ii) island sustainability focusing on safe and healthy living and livelihoods; and (iii) risk education for health and disasters.

• 1. Keep Truckin': My Life As Clown, Philosopher, Activist And Radical Geographer 2. Analogies Of Vietnam In East Africa Village Life 3. The Best Of Times, The Worst Of Times: Two Commentaries On Wisner's 'Analogies Of Vietnam In East African Village Life' 4. Ben's Response To David Stea And Kristina Peterson's Commentaries: Mental Gymnastics And Boots On The Ground 5. Global Systems And Local Disasters: The Untapped Power Of People's Science 6. Reflection On 'Global Systems And Local Disasters: The Untapped Power Of Peoples' Science' 7. Ben's Response To Jake Cadag's Commentary: The Untapped Power Of Peoples' Science 8. Nutritional Consequences Of The Articulation Of Capitalist And Non-Capitalist Modes Of Production In Eastern Kenya 9. Nutrition And Post-Colonial Change In Eastern Kenya 10. Ben's Response To Terry Gibson's Commentary: Nutrition And Post-Colonial Change In Eastern Kenya 11. Disaster Vulnerability: Scale, Power And Daily Life 12. Revisiting The Past To Think About Our Roles As Scholars, Practitioners And Activists: The Importance Of 'Disaster Vulnerability: Scale, Power, And Daily Life' 13. Ben's Response To Victor Marchezini's Commentary: Daily Life (The Universe And Everything?) 14. Assessment Of Capability And Vulnerability 15. (Re)Assessing Capacity And Vulnerability 16. Ben's Response To Mihir Bhatt's Commentary 17. Speaking Truth To Power: A Personal Account Of Activist Political Ecology 18. Reflection On 'Speaking Truth To Power' 19. Ben's Response To Ksenia Chmutina's Commentary: More Thoughts On Truths And Powers – Angry, Anchored Versus Relative And Blasé 20. Spatial Histories Of Radical Geography: North America And Beyond: Book Review Forum 21. Some Political Undercurrents In Ben Wisner's Review Of 'Spatial Histories Of Radical Geography' 22. Ben's Response To Salvadore Engel-Di Mauro's Commentary: Speaking To The Next Few Generations 23. Postscript: Letter To The Young 24. Ben Wisner's Bibliography