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Vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction

Current approaches to vulnerability assessment for disaster-risk reduction (DRR) commonly apply generalised, a priori determinants of vulnerability to particular hazards in particular places. Although they may allow for policy-level legibility at high levels of spatial scale, these approaches suffer...

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Autores principales: Carr, Edward R., Abrahams, Daniel, de la Poterie, Arielle T., Suarez, Pablo, Koelle, Bettina
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: AOSIS OpenJournals 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6014129/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29955282
http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v7i1.201
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author Carr, Edward R.
Abrahams, Daniel
de la Poterie, Arielle T.
Suarez, Pablo
Koelle, Bettina
author_facet Carr, Edward R.
Abrahams, Daniel
de la Poterie, Arielle T.
Suarez, Pablo
Koelle, Bettina
author_sort Carr, Edward R.
collection PubMed
description Current approaches to vulnerability assessment for disaster-risk reduction (DRR) commonly apply generalised, a priori determinants of vulnerability to particular hazards in particular places. Although they may allow for policy-level legibility at high levels of spatial scale, these approaches suffer from attribution problems that become more acute as the level of analysis is localised and the population under investigation experiences greater vulnerability. In this article, we locate the source of this problem in a spatial scale mismatch between the essentialist framings of identity behind these generalised determinants of vulnerability and the intersectional, situational character of identity in the places where DRR interventions are designed and implemented. Using the Livelihoods as Intimate Government (LIG) approach to identify and understand different vulnerabilities to flooding in a community in southern Zambia, we empirically demonstrate how essentialist framings of identity produce this mismatch. Further, we illustrate a means of operationalising intersectional, situational framings of identity to achieve greater and more productive understandings of hazard vulnerability than available through the application of general determinants of vulnerability to specific places and cases.
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spelling pubmed-60141292018-06-28 Vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction Carr, Edward R. Abrahams, Daniel de la Poterie, Arielle T. Suarez, Pablo Koelle, Bettina Jamba Original Research Current approaches to vulnerability assessment for disaster-risk reduction (DRR) commonly apply generalised, a priori determinants of vulnerability to particular hazards in particular places. Although they may allow for policy-level legibility at high levels of spatial scale, these approaches suffer from attribution problems that become more acute as the level of analysis is localised and the population under investigation experiences greater vulnerability. In this article, we locate the source of this problem in a spatial scale mismatch between the essentialist framings of identity behind these generalised determinants of vulnerability and the intersectional, situational character of identity in the places where DRR interventions are designed and implemented. Using the Livelihoods as Intimate Government (LIG) approach to identify and understand different vulnerabilities to flooding in a community in southern Zambia, we empirically demonstrate how essentialist framings of identity produce this mismatch. Further, we illustrate a means of operationalising intersectional, situational framings of identity to achieve greater and more productive understandings of hazard vulnerability than available through the application of general determinants of vulnerability to specific places and cases. AOSIS OpenJournals 2015-11-30 /pmc/articles/PMC6014129/ /pubmed/29955282 http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v7i1.201 Text en © 2015. The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Licensee:AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
spellingShingle Original Research
Carr, Edward R.
Abrahams, Daniel
de la Poterie, Arielle T.
Suarez, Pablo
Koelle, Bettina
Vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction
title Vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction
title_full Vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction
title_fullStr Vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction
title_full_unstemmed Vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction
title_short Vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction
title_sort vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6014129/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29955282
http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v7i1.201
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