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"It is commonplace that people search for meaning in the aftermath of disaster. But what if the experts charged with providing that meaning do not have the required tools? This book focuses on disaster-related spiritual expertise following the attacks of September 11th 2001, while showing how these dynamics have only become more insistent as the climate crisis has intensified"--

In this age of near-perpetual disaster, from the Coronavirus epidemic and mass incarceration to hurricanes and earthquakes, spiritual care has become an essential component of the disaster-response toolkit. In Experts in the Age of Anxiety, Joshua Moses chronicles the rise of disaster-related spiritual expertise in the years following the attacks of 9/11. What emerges are approaches to trauma that encompass everything from meditation and acupuncture to trauma therapy and restorative justice. In this way, the ascent of spiritual expertise in response to post-9/11 disasters represents an extension of historical tensions between secular health practice and proponents of religious and spiritual care.The book also provides a lens through which to understand the historical dimensions of disaster-related trauma, its treatment, and the ways that therapeutic and spiritual practices imply politics. By studying the intersection of mental health and spirituality in the context of disaster, we gain essential insight into apocalyptic and dystopic beliefs that are prevalent today throughout the United States—and beyond. We learn not only about the role of particular forms of expertise in defining meaning but also the consequences this concept of meaning may have for how we imagine our relations to other humans and nonhumans, the climate crisis—and ultimately the kind of future we might imagine.This variety of therapeutic and spiritual practices, now deployed in the face of disaster, will be tested as humanity faces growing threats from the climate crisis and other cascading disasters. But it is not at all clear whether the particular kinds of knowledge we have managed to patch together will provide the resources we require to instill the capacities to face the repercussions of future disasters

Homelessness in the Beaufort-Delta represents a significant problem that is underserved by government, market, and nonprofit agencies. Based on research conducted during 2011-2012, this article outlines the breadth and scope of the housing problem and details extant service provision networks for homeless and hard-to-house (HtH) persons with addiction and mental health problems. A critique of neoliberal governance on housing development and social services suggests that significant effort is needed to deal with the problems associated with centralization on the one hand and the isolation associated with Arctic life on the other. The authors conclude by making recommendations for the future role of nonprofit agencies in the Beaufort-Delta through the adoption of a housing first approach. Dans le delta de Beaufort, l'itinérance pose un sérieux défi que négligent les secteurs gouvernemental, commercial et sans but lucratif. Cet article se fonde sur une étude menée en 2011-2012 qui souligne l'envergure du problème de logement et recense les réseaux actuels qui desservent les sans-abris et les personnes difficiles à héberger souffrant de problèmes de dépendance et de santé mentale. Il s'ensuit dans cet article la critique d'une politique néolibérale envers la fourniture de logements et de services sociaux. Cette critique suggère qu'un effort important est requis pour surmonter les problèmes reliés à la centralisation des services d'une part et à l'isolement du milieu arctique d'autre part. Pour conclure, l'article propose un rôle futur pour les agences à but non lucratif dans le delta de Beaufort en recommandant à ces dernières une approche qui met l'accent sur les logements avant tout.

Indigenous communities across the Alaskan Arctic have experienced profound revisions of livelihood, culture, and autonomy over the past century of colonization, creating radical discontinuities between the lives of young people and those of their parents and Elders. The disrupted processes of identity development, access to livelihoods, and cross-generational mentorship associated with colonialism have created complex challenges for youth as they envision and enact viable paths forward in the context of a rapidly changing Arctic home. In this study, we consider the meanings associated with different constructions of culture and selfhood, and the ways in which these identity narratives position Inupiaq Alaskan Native youth in relation to their personal and collective futures. Through an intergenerational and participatory inquiry process, this study explores how representations of shared heritage, present-day struggles, resilience, and hope can expand possibilities for youth and thus impact individual and community health.

Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience explores the interface between spiritual and psychological care in the context of disaster recovery work, drawing upon recent disasters including but not limited to, the experiences of September 11, 2001. Each of the three sections that make up the book are structured around the cycle of disaster response and focus on the relevant phase of disaster recovery work. In each section, selected topics combining spiritual and mental health factors are examined; when possible, sections are co-written by a spiritual care provider and a mental health

Recent years have seen the rise of historical trauma as a construct to describe the impact of colonization, cultural suppression, and historical oppression of Indigenous peoples in North America (e.g., Native Americans in the United States, Aboriginal peoples in Canada). The discourses of psychiatry and psychology contribute to the conflation of disparate forms of violence by emphasizing presumptively universal aspects of trauma response. Many proponents of this construct have made explicit analogies to the Holocaust as a way to understand the transgenerational effects of genocide. However, the social, cultural, and psychological contexts of the Holocaust and of post-colonial Indigenous "survivance" differ in many striking ways. Indeed, the comparison suggests that the persistent suffering of Indigenous peoples in the Americas reflects not so much past trauma as ongoing structural violence. The comparative study of genocide and other forms of massive, organized violence can do much to illuminate both common mechanisms and distinctive features, and trace the looping effects from political processes to individual experience and back again. The ethics and pragmatics of individual and collective healing, restitution, resilience, and recovery can be understood in terms of the self-vindicating loops between politics, structural violence, public discourse, and embodied experience.

In recent Inuit ethnography, a major concern has been how and to what extent contemporary Inuit participate in and depend on subsistence activities, particularly in the context of increasing wage employment and growing participation in the cash economy. This paper provides an analysis of these activities in the predominately Inuit community of Nain, Labrador. Using social network data and demographic information collected between January and June 2010, we examine the interconnections between subsistence activities—obtaining "country food" through activities such as hunting, fishing, and collecting—with access to the means of obtaining subsistence resources (such as snow mobiles, cabins, and boats), employment status, and income. Our data indicate that individuals with higher employment status and income tend to be more central to the network of subsistence food sharing, but not because they have greater access to hunting tools or equipment (they do not). We conclude that those individuals who play the most central role in the network are those who are financially able to do so, regardless of access to hunting tools/means.

Housing, Homelessness, and Social Policy in the Urban North brings together leading scholars on northern urban housing across Alaska, the Canadian north, and Greenland. Through various case studies, contributors examine the ways in which housing insecurity and homelessness provide a critical lens on the social dimensions of northern urbanization. They also present key considerations in the development of effective and sustainable social policy for these areas. The book kickstarts a conversation between multiple stakeholders from different cultural and national regions across the North American north. It asks key questions including: What are the common problems of, and responses to, housing insecurity and homelessness across these northern regions? Is a single definition of "homelessness" even possible, or desirable? And if not, can a shared language around how to end the housing crisis and homelessness in our northern regions still occur? The contributors explore how experiences of northern towns and cities inform an overall understanding of urban forms and processes in the contemporary world, and speak directly to the emerging body of literature on cities. Highlighting key limitations to federal, state, and provincial policy, Housing, Homelessness, and Social Policy in the Urban North raises important implications for developing policy that is responsive to northern realities