Ambivalence towards discourse of disaster resilience

This paper investigates empirically how the international aid community (IAC)—donors and practitioners—considers and implements disaster resilience in a specific country setting, Nepal, and throughout the rest of the world. A key finding is that there is ambivalence about a concept that has become a discourse. On a global level, the IAC utilises the discourse of resilience in a cautiously positive manner as a bridging concept. On a national level, it is being used to influence the Government of Nepal, as well as serving as an operational tool of donors. The mythical resilient urban community is fashioned in the IAC's imaginary; understanding how people create communities and what type of linkages with government urban residents desire to develop their resilience strategies is missing, though, from the discussion. Disaster resilience can be viewed as another grand plan to enhance the lives of people. Yet, regrettably, an explicit focus on individuals and their communities is lost in the process

Wrestling with Grief: Fan Negotiation of Professional/Private Personas in Response to the Chris Benoit Double Murder-Suicide

In 2007, professional wrestler Chris Benoit murdered his wife and young son before killing himself. The shocking incident was made even more significant due to Benoit’s then employment with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the world’s predominant professional wrestling organisation. As a result, WWE ordered a complete censorship of Benoit across its media output, guiding fans to forget him with prejudice. This article presents an examination of how fans contended with the images of Benoit presented to them at the time of the incident – and how this compares with their feelings about him today. With no overriding directive for remembrance, fans have had to negotiate their own memorialisation narratives, which can become contentious among fan communities when individuals attempt to revisit Benoit’s professional output. Through qualitative data conducted via an online survey, this article presents an insight into how relations to professional and private celebrity personas have an impact on contemporary fandom. While the article will not attempt to draw conclusions as to whether Benoit was a ‘monster’ or simply very ill, it will present an image of how fans have had to contend with such images in the formation of their bereavement