CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Wallis, Emily Louise |
|---|---|
| Title | Beyond Disaster Coloniality and Towards Epistemic Justice: The Value of Local Knowledge in Madagascar's Disaster Risk Management |
| Summary | Madagascar’s disproportionate vulnerability to disasters, exacerbated by climate change, underscores the urgent need for enhanced, context-specific disaster risk management strategies. This thesis employs interviews and observational data as primary research methods to examine how field experts and technical experts define and perceive drought differently. Furthermore, it explores how epistemic injustice undermines the credibility of local knowledge and how this impacts disaster risk management strategies. Additionally, the paper investigates how disaster coloniality influences stakeholders’ perceptions and responses to disasters, underscoring the importance of incorporating local perspectives. The findings reveal emerging drought conditions in northern Madagascar, which are severely impacting local communities, particularly smallholder farmers. Given the North’s typical characterisation as a “tropical” climate, the onset of drought in this region could have significant implications for the entire island. Unlike the semi-arid South, which has been experiencing severe drought for several decades, drought is a recent phenomenon for the North of Madagascar, leaving local populations unprepared and lacking effective disaster risk management strategies to deal with the rapidly changing climate. Key challenges include reduced water and sanitation access, increased food insecurity, and a rise in health concerns, exacerbating existing socio-economic vulnerabilities shaped by Madagascar’s colonial history. This thesis emphasises that disasters are not “natural”, but a result from the combination of hazards, vulnerability, exposure, and coloniality. Moreover, it highlights the importance of integrating local knowledge and addressing the coloniality of disasters in Madagascar’s disaster risk management. |
| Supervisor | Schaffartzik, Anke |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/wallis_emily.pdf |
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