Risk, vulnerability, and pragmatic inevitability: the conflict-disaster nexus and urban governance in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Publisher: Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 7702072 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1467-7717 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03613666 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Disasters Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Oxford : Blackwell
Original Publication: Oxford, Elmsford, N. Y., Pergamon Press.

Citizenship* ; Disasters*; Floods ; Humans ; Local Government ; South Africa

This paper spotlights post-disaster relief provision in Johannesburg, South Africa, following the floods of 2016 in a bid to explore how local government and non-governmental actors in the country conceive of compounding vulnerability and conflict within urban disaster governance. It reveals the diverse strategies employed to navigate violent conflict during the cyclical occurrence of disaster and reconstruction that the predominantly migrant population experiences in the Setswetla informal settlement, adjacent to the Alexandra township in northern Johannesburg. Rendered visible in moments of disaster and recovery are the spatial politics and multidimensional nature of conflict. These phenomena unfold across various levels of urban governance and in the affected community and effectively construct a disaster citizenship that makes risk reduction and community cohesion impossible in the eyes of disaster managers. This research, based on a set of expert interviews, integrates conflict and disaster studies to shed light on how the conflict-disaster interface materialises, and is operationalised, in an urban setting.
(© 2020 The Authors Disasters © 2020 Overseas Development Institute.)

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Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); MISTI (MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives) Africa

Keywords: Johannesburg; South Africa; conflict-disaster nexus; disaster governance; flooding; urban conflict; vulnerability
Local Abstract: [Publisher, Arabic] تستكشف هذه المقالة -مع التركيز على توفير الإغاثة بعد الكوارث في جوهانسبرج في أعقاب فيضانات عام 2016- كيف تتصور الحكومة المحلية والجهات غير الحكومية في جنوب إفريقيا تفاقم الضعف والنزاع داخل إدارة الكوارث الحضرية. ويكشف عن الاستراتيجيات المتنوعة المستخدمة للتغلب على الصراع العنيف في التجربة الدورية للكوارث وإعادة الإعمار التي يختبرها السكان الذين يغلب عليهم المهاجرون في مستوطنة سيتسويتلا العشوائية. تظهر بوضوح في لحظات الكوارث والتعافي السياسات المكانية والطبيعة متعددة الأبعاد للنزاع التي تتكشف عبر مستويات مختلفة من الإدارة الحضرية وفي المجتمع المتضرر وتبني بشكل فعال المواطنة في حالة الكوارث التي تجعل الحد من المخاطر والتماسك المجتمعي مستحيلا في نظر مديري الكوارث. واستنادًا إلى مجموعة من مقابلات الخبراء، يدمج هذا البحث دراسات الصراع والكوارث لإلقاء الضوء على كيفية تجسيد واجهة الصراع والكوارث وتفعيلها في البيئات الحضرية. [Publisher, Chinese] 聚焦在2016年洪水后约翰内斯堡的灾后救援工作，本文探讨了南非地方政府和非政府行为者如何在城市灾害治理中考虑脆弱性和冲突的加剧。它揭示了用来解决暴力冲突的各种策略。这些策略主要是针对在Setswetla非正式定居点中，移民人口所经历的灾难和重建的周期性经历。在灾难和恢复的时刻可见的是，空间政治和冲突的多面性在城市治理的各个层面以及在受影响的社区中展开，并且有效地建立了灾害公民的身份。这一举动减少了风险，并且在灾难管理人员看来，社区凝聚力是不可能在这种情形下存在的。-根据一系列的专家访谈，本研究将冲突与灾难研究相结合，以此阐明冲突和灾难界面如何在城市环境中实现和运作。.

Date Created: 20200812 Date Completed: 20211215 Latest Revision: 20211215

20240628

10.1111/disa.12461

32779210