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

Area of Science:

• Disaster Risk Reduction
• Social Vulnerability Studies
• Human Geography

Background:

• Current disaster-risk reduction (DRR) vulnerability assessments utilize generalized, a priori determinants, leading to attribution problems at local scales.
• These generalized approaches create a spatial scale mismatch between essentialist identity framings and the intersectional, situational nature of identity in local contexts.
• This mismatch hinders effective DRR interventions where they are most needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and understand diverse vulnerabilities to flooding in a southern Zambian community.
• To demonstrate how essentialist identity framings contribute to the spatial scale mismatch in vulnerability assessments.
• To operationalize intersectional, situational identity framings for improved hazard vulnerability understanding.

Main Methods:

• Employed the Livelihoods as Intimate Government (LIG) approach.
• Focused on a specific community in southern Zambia experiencing flooding.
• Analyzed the intersectional and situational character of identity in relation to vulnerability.

Main Results:

• Essentialist identity framings were shown to produce a spatial scale mismatch in vulnerability assessments.
• The LIG approach effectively identified and understood varied vulnerabilities to flooding.
• Operationalizing intersectional, situational identity framings yielded more productive understandings of hazard vulnerability.

Conclusions:

• Generalized vulnerability determinants are insufficient for localized DRR.
• Intersectional, situational identity framings are crucial for accurate vulnerability assessment.
• The LIG approach offers a viable method for enhancing DRR interventions through localized, identity-aware analysis.