TY - GEN T1 - Underwater : loss, flood insurance, and the moral economy of climate change in the United States T2 - Society and the environment. A1 - Elliott, Rebecca, 1984- LA - English PP - New York PB - Columbia University Press YR - 2021 UL - https://ebooks.jgu.edu.in/Record/jstor_eba_on1157631640 AB - "Communities around the United States face the threat of being underwater. This is not only a matter of rising waters reaching the doorstep. It is also the threat of being financially underwater, owning assets worth less than the money borrowed to obtain them. Many areas around the country may become economically uninhabitable before they become physically unlivable. In Underwater, Rebecca Elliott explores how families, communities, and governments confront problems of loss as the climate changes. She offers the first in-depth account of the politics and social effects of the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides flood insurance protection for virtually all homes and small businesses that require it. In doing so, the NFIP turns the risk of flooding into an immediate economic reality, shaping who lives on the waterfront, on what terms, and at what cost. Drawing on archival, interview, ethnographic, and other documentary data, Elliott follows controversies over the NFIP from its establishment in the 1960s to the present, from local backlash over flood maps to Congressional debates over insurance reform. Though flood insurance is often portrayed as a rational solution for managing risk, it has ignited recurring fights over what is fair and valuable, what needs protecting and what should be let go, who deserves assistance and on what terms, and whose expectations of future losses are used to govern the present. An incisive and comprehensive consideration of the fundamental dilemmas of moral economy underlying insurance, Underwater sheds new light on how Americans cope with loss as the water rises"-- OP - 278 CN - HG9983.3 .E45 2021 SN - 9780231548816 SN - 0231548818 SN - 9780231190268 SN - 9780231190275 KW - National Flood Insurance Program (U.S.) KW - Flood insurance : Government policy : United States. KW - Flood insurance : Social aspects : United States. KW - Flood insurance : Moral and ethical aspects : United States. KW - Flood damage : Economic aspects : United States. KW - Flood damage : Social aspects : United States. KW - Liability for environmental damages : United States. KW - Climatic changes : Economic aspects : United States. KW - Assurance contre les inondations : Politique gouvernementale : États-Unis. KW - Assurance contre les inondations : Aspect social : États-Unis. KW - Assurance contre les inondations : Aspect moral : États-Unis. KW - Dommages causés par les inondations : Aspect économique : États-Unis. KW - Dommages causés par les inondations : Aspect social : États-Unis. KW - Responsabilité pour dommages à l'environnement : États-Unis. KW - Climat : Changements : Aspect économique : États-Unis. KW - SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General KW - Climatic changes : Economic aspects KW - Flood damage : Economic aspects KW - Flood insurance : Government policy KW - Liability for environmental damages KW - United States ER -