Shoring up against hard times: social vulnerability and environmental hazard in the Caribbean

Social networks and the social capital upon which they are built become key resources in times of hardship, particularly for those individuals and communities excluded from accessing economic and political resources. But what exactly is social capital and can it be strengthened or shaped by aid agencies or governments to enhance security? Research at the University of Liverpool focuses on recent experiences of environmental hazard in Guyana, the Dominican Republic, and Barbados. It explores the political, cultural, social and economic pressures that influence the accumulation of social capital and the distribution of vulnerability.

Caribbean nations are amongst those most at risk from natural disasters and global climate change. They have also experienced far-reaching social change in the last decade that has reshaped patterns of vulnerability. Recent moves towards democratisation, privatisation, and participatory development may have freed social capital and allowed civil society to reduce grassroots vulnerability. On the other hand, urban growth, modernisation, and the decline of group leisure activities may have contributed to social fragmentation.

The researchers studied these changes in Caribbean society and concluded that deeper, more historical forces will make it difficult to shift entrenched social relations that are a root cause of vulnerability. This finding has important implications for international organisations working in the Americas and wider afield, who aim to promote social development and reduce vulnerability in the face of environmental hazard and the future impacts of global climate change. Some of the key findings included:

• Local leaders do not necessarily stand for the needs of the people they represent.
• Men are generally under-represented in community group membership and activities, whereas women are often under-represented in group leadership.
• Dominant business and political interests often take over programmes designed to strengthen local participation, thus reinforcing established patterns of vulnerability.
• Economic development can conceal and promote social underdevelopment.
• Reducing vulnerability to everyday hazards by improving facilities such as inadequate drinking water provision, drainage, or solid waste management also reduces vulnerability to catastrophic events.

This has some of the following implications for policy:

• Public sector and civil society need to be strengthened and urged to work together
• Integrated approaches to development are more likely to reduce vulnerability than are single programmes, and will have greater flexibility to respond to rapid change
• Trust and mutual support within a community can be facilitated by focusing on vulnerability
• Vulnerability can be reduced by focusing on developing social ties within a community.

Source(s):
The political ecology of flood hazard in urban Guyana, GeoForum, 30, 249-261, by M. Pelling, 1999 >
Participation, Social Capital and Vulnerability to Urban Flooding in Guyana, Journal of International Development, 10, 469-486, by M. Pelling, 1998 >

Funded by: ESRC, GEC Programme

id21 Research Highlight: 23 August 1999

Further Information:
Mark Pelling
Department of Geography
University of Liverpool
Roxby Building
Liverpool L69 3BX
UK

Tel: +44 (0)151-794 2874
Fax: +44 (0)151-794 2866
Contact the contributor: pelling@liverpool.ac.uk

Deaprtment of Geography, University of Liverpool

DSA Conference 1999

Other related links:
Global Environmental Change Programme (ESRC)

Urban and Regional Development Studies Research Group, Dept. of Geography, University of Liverpool

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