Disasters and Life in Anticipation of Slow Calamity: Perspectives from the Colombian Andes

Description

The book provides insights into community narratives concerning life in the face of creeping calamities through a case study from the Colombian Andes. It sets out to make sense of the lived experience of disasters that are slowly unfolding as well disasters that have not yet occurred. This book explores what it means to live in anticipation of disaster and in anticipation of an uprooting of community, sense of self, and sense of belonging. It questions whether community resilience is a useful concept in the context of slow-onset geological hazards for which few viable solutions are available. The book forces us to think about how resettlement and displacement functions in the context of slow calamities, which presents distinct challenges, mainly related to lower political saliency than what is usually the case in emergencies. The book thus also has implications for how we think about the adverse impacts of climate change. By raising new questions on the nature of disasters and calamities and how we experience them, the book explores the challenges and tensions surrounding governance and governmentality. The interdisciplinary blend of practice-oriented and conceptual reflections will appeal to academics in postgraduate and postdoctoral research in social sciences, specifically, disaster research, geography, and research fields centred on natural hazards and disasters. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures Foreword Preface Acknowledgements Part I: Context Chapter 1: Introduction: Life in anticipation of slow calamity 1.1 Key literatures and terms engaged with in this book 1.1.1 The nature of disaster 1.1.2 Community 1.1.3 Dilemmas arising from distrust and the principle of subsidiarity 1.1.4 Displacement, resettlement and recovery 1.2 The aim of this book 1.2.1 Conceptualising slow and oftentimes elusive manifestations of disaster impacts 1.2.2 What bearing does disaster onset speed have on the subjective experience of disasters from the perspective of affected communities? 1.2.3 The displacement dynamics of slow calamities 1.2.4 How can we understand resilience in the context of slowly but perpetually worsening disaster impacts associated with a particular hazard phenomenon? 1.2.5 How do distrust and dilemmas connected to the principle of subsidiarity affect community involvement in resettlement processes? 1.3 Living in anticipation of calamity 1.4 Themes and structure Notes Chapter 2: Aponte: Political, geographical and community context 2.1 Locating Aponte geographically 2.2 The Aponte community and the Inga people 2.2.1 Wuasikamas 2.3 Calamity on the horizon Notes Chapter 3: The phenomenon: The natural hazard and its characteristics – some reflections 3.1 The hazard 3.2 Geomorphology and descriptions of the mass movement 3.3 Initial theories and perspectives on the nature, onset and cause of the phenomenon 3.4 Conceptualising the hazard profile 3.4.1 Challenges of perception and sense making Notes Part II: Experiencing slow calamity Chapter 4: Making sense of the hazard: Interpretations of the phenomenon 4.1 The nature of the hazard 4.1.1 Representations in the media 4.2 Unpacking local narratives 4.2.1 Falla geológica 4.2.2 It moves 4.2.3 Tremors, creaking and shaking 4.3 Descriptions of the progression of the hazard 4.3.1 Earliest signs 4.3.2 Connecting the dots: from events to process 4.3.3 Feelings of uncertainty about the hazard’s progression 4.3.4 Noticing and perceiving 4.4 Perspectives on the phenomenon and dynamics of causality Notes Chapter 5: Living with a slow calamity: Disruption and continuity in the face of creeping destruction 5.1 Disaster impacts 5.2 Disaster impacts and lived experience: recurring themes 5.2.1 Surprise and non-linearity 5.2.2 Fear of community disintegration 5.2.3 Hope and distrust in authorities – centralisation dilemmas 5.3 Differentiated vulnerabilities 5.3.1 Social ties and networks 5.3.2 The campesinos 5.4 Capacities 5.5 Living through and in the face of slow calamity 5.6 Problems with the concepts of resilience and recovery Chapter 6: The ancestral land: Territory, community and resettlement 6.1 Narratives on the importance of territory for the Inga 6.1.1 Ancestral land and spirituality 6.1.2 Home, neighbours and family 6.2 Recovery as a slow healing process centred on community rehabilitation 6.2.1 Territorial aspects of the resettlement process 6.2.2 A long process Notes Part III: Reflections Chapter 7: Living in anticipation of impending calamity: Towards an analytical notion 7.1 Conceptualizing the lived experience of anticipation in the context of looming and slowly manifesting disasters 7.2 Ontological security and living through slow calamity 7.3 Anticipation and ontological security in Aponte Notes Chapter 8: Concluding reflections What characterises the experience of living in anticipation of slow calamity and/or the potential secondary disaster of resettlement? How can we make sense of the impact that disaster onset speed may have on the lived experience of such adversities? Can reflections on the role of disaster onset dynamics be seen as fully compatible with the vulnerability paradigm? How can we make sense of the displacement dynamics of slow calamities? Can resettlement be considered a resilient move? What constitutes community survival and what constitutes community collapse following resettlement? Is the management of slow calamities different? How may we conceptualise the difference between hazards and disasters in the context of slowly emerging disaster impacts? Concluding reflections References Index