Fifty Years of Disaster Study: Changing Imperatives, Outlived Terms, New Frontiers - Perspectives from The Next Generation: Decolonization and More

Abstract

Critical examination of recent as well as longstanding approaches to the study of disasters is fundamental for rethinking how researchers and practitioners can improve the ways in which they engage with those affected by them. Bringing the panel on Fifty Years of Disaster Study to a close, this paper explores how recent efforts to diversify, indigenize and de-colonialize disaster anthropology have sought to address existing power imbalances. While this has resulted in new methodological innovations, imbalances in efforts to rebalance power remain and superficial adoption of the language of diversification and decolonization risks enhancing their potential for abuse.