‘It’s not about having a back-up plan; it’s always being in back-up mode’: Rethinking the relationship between disability and vulnerability to extreme weather

Connon, I; Hall, E

‘It’s not about having a back-up plan; it’s always being in back-up mode’: Rethinking the relationship between disability and vulnerability to extreme weather

Connon, I

Hall, E

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Publisher:: Elsevier
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Geoforum, 2021
Issue Date:: 2021-08-30

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Connon, I https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7770-2172
dc.contributor.author	Hall, E
dc.date.accessioned	2021-08-30T12:49:54Z
dc.date.available	2021-08-30T12:49:54Z
dc.date.issued	2021-08-30
dc.identifier.citation	Geoforum, 2021
dc.identifier.issn	0016-7185
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/150270
dc.description.abstract	This article presents an empirically driven critique of the predominant theoretical perspective concerning the relationship between disability and vulnerability that continues to underpin much of the scholarship focusing on the human geographies of environmental hazards and disasters, as well as policies and practices of Disaster Risk Reduction. Findings from a study involving semi-structured interviews from six case study sites in the United Kingdom examining responses to prolonged electricity outages during periods of extreme weather demonstrate that the simple equating of disability with vulnerability cannot be sustained. This is because people with disabilities were no less likely than those without disabilities to be able cope and adapt to challenges imposed by extreme weather. Furthermore, in instances where people with disabilities struggled to cope, this can be seen to result from social, physical, and structural constraints, rather than the presence of impairment per se. From this, we argue that the experiences of people with disabilities can be better understood from a relational perspective, which promotes consideration of local relations, interdependencies, and networks within which people with disabilities are embedded, and through which they engage with society and place. We conclude that UK Priority Service Register (PSR) emergency response systems, like other emergency response protocols utilised in other geographic locations and which uncritically equate disability with vulnerability, need to be replaced with an approach that recognises the capabilities and agency of people with disabilities and considers how social and environmental factors interrelate to produce vulnerabilities and enhance capabilities.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier
dc.relation.ispartof	Geoforum
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
dc.subject	16 Studies in Human Society
dc.subject.classification	Geography
dc.title	‘It’s not about having a back-up plan; it’s always being in back-up mode’: Rethinking the relationship between disability and vulnerability to extreme weather
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	16 Studies in Human Society
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
utslib.copyright.embargo	2023-11-01T00:00:00+1000Z
dc.date.updated	2021-08-30T12:49:53Z
pubs.publication-status	Accepted

Abstract:

This article presents an empirically driven critique of the predominant theoretical perspective concerning the relationship between disability and vulnerability that continues to underpin much of the scholarship focusing on the human geographies of environmental hazards and disasters, as well as policies and practices of Disaster Risk Reduction. Findings from a study involving semi-structured interviews from six case study sites in the United Kingdom examining responses to prolonged electricity outages during periods of extreme weather demonstrate that the simple equating of disability with vulnerability cannot be sustained. This is because people with disabilities were no less likely than those without disabilities to be able cope and adapt to challenges imposed by extreme weather. Furthermore, in instances where people with disabilities struggled to cope, this can be seen to result from social, physical, and structural constraints, rather than the presence of impairment per se. From this, we argue that the experiences of people with disabilities can be better understood from a relational perspective, which promotes consideration of local relations, interdependencies, and networks within which people with disabilities are embedded, and through which they engage with society and place. We conclude that UK Priority Service Register (PSR) emergency response systems, like other emergency response protocols utilised in other geographic locations and which uncritically equate disability with vulnerability, need to be replaced with an approach that recognises the capabilities and agency of people with disabilities and considers how social and environmental factors interrelate to produce vulnerabilities and enhance capabilities.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/150270