In July 1995, a severe heat wave in Chicago revealed how one element of the population was particularly vulnerable in a scenario that anticipated likely tragedies, such as what happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina

Question

What did the sociologist Eric Klinenberg reveal and what special phrase did he coin to describe it?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Eric Klinenberg argued that the massive loss of life that took place during the heat wave was in fact a "structurally determined catastrophe" due to the city's neglect of the neighborhoods hardest hit. To Klinenberg, this was a catastrophe that could mostly have been prevented. The heat wave did not take lives at random. Rather, that vulnerability was concentrated in the low-income, elderly, African-American, and more violent regions of the city. Poor neighborhoods were underserved by municipal agencies that could have reached out to social isolates and people without air conditioners, and their local hospitals were overwhelmed and understaffed. Klinenberg also argued that the city had allowed poor neighborhoods to become so deteriorated and dangerous that residents feared leaving their homes even as the temperatures rose to dangerous levels.