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Differentiated legitimacy, differentiated resilience: beyond the natural in ‘natural disasters’

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 01:55 authored by Elizabeth HarrisonElizabeth Harrison, Canford Chiroro
This paper starts with a flood in southern Malawi. Although apparently a ‘natural’ event, those most affected argued that it was made much worse by the rehabilitation of a nearby irrigation scheme. We use this example to interrogate the current interest in resilience from a perspective informed by political ecology and political economy, arguing that a focus on resilience should not be at the expense of understanding the conditions that shape vulnerability, including the ways in which ‘communities’ are differentiated. Complex factors are at play – and the ways in which these combine can result in a ‘perfect storm’ for some individuals and households. These factors include the effects of history combining with ethnicity, of legitimacy influencing voice, and of the interplay of political dynamics at different levels. In particular, processes of commodification have played an important role in shaping how some may benefit at the cost of catastrophic harm to others.

Funding

Innovations to Promote Growth among Small-scale Irrigators in Africa: An Ethnographic and Knowledge-Exchange Approach; G0983; ESRC-ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL; ES/J009415/1

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Journal of Peasant Studies

ISSN

0306-6150

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

5

Volume

44

Page range

1022-1042

Department affiliated with

  • Anthropology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2016-06-28

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2017-08-30

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-08-30

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