Development Justice, a Proposal: Reckoning with Disaster, Catastrophe, and Climate Change in the Caribbean

Gahman, Levi and Thongs, Gabrielle (2020) Development Justice, a Proposal: Reckoning with Disaster, Catastrophe, and Climate Change in the Caribbean. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 45 (4). pp. 763-778.

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Abstract

This paper proposes that “development justice” be taken up as an analytical concept and praxis‐driven framework for research on disasters, resilience, and climate change. The piece begins with a synopsis of the historical‐structural factors exacerbating risk in the Caribbean before reviewing the concepts of vulnerability, resilience, and development justice. Next, drawing from empirical data and via a development justice lens, we highlight how the logics, practices, and debts of colonial underdevelopment, racial capitalism, and neoliberal extraction continue to erode resilience across the region. We end by recommending that future adaptation and mitigation strategies related to disasters, catastrophes, and climate change be more attentive to structural and slow violence, as well as the historical trajectories of imperialism, racial capitalism, and hetero patriarchal norms. In sum, the piece constitutes an evidence‐based assertion that development justice perspectives alongside theories of non‐metaphorical decolonisation be used by scholars, activists, scientists, and states alike who are committed to mediating climate change and preventing/reducing the damage caused by disasters.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Caribbean, Climate change, Development justice, Hazards and disasters, Imperialism, Resiliance
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	06 Jan 2020 08:53
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 00:11
DOI:	10.1111/tran.12369
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3069196