State sovereignty and natural hazards: a study on the legacy of the United Kingdom's imperial practices and disaster management activities of their island possesions
| Author(s) | Louis-Charles, Hans | |
| Date Accessioned | 2017-03-22T12:06:07Z | |
| Date Available | 2017-03-22T12:06:07Z | |
| Publication Date | 2016 | |
| Abstract | The current era of Non-Self-Governing-States and semi-Autonomous regions continue to contemplate referendums on their political associations while access to natural hazard relief is cited as a significant reason to resist full sovereignty. This dissertation informs how a State’s autonomy status affects how natural disasters are prepared and mitigated for, responded to and recovered from. Additional enquiry addresses how colonial settlement and colonial administration shaped disaster management practices. A historical multi-case study was conducted using a sample pool of island states associated with the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Within-case and cross-case analyses of the major themes: use of military forces, displacement and resettlement; legislative policy and process; financial compensation and public health services, were conducted following 5 government responses to significant hurricane storms on 3 former and current British colonies over the span of 250 years. A Foucauldian theoretical framework, Late Colonial Governmentality, is used to explain the emergence and formalized disaster management in the Atlantic/Caribbean region. Whether or not a colony was extractive, (i.e. a plantation) played a significant factor in historical government responses. The findings show that greater political sovereignty allows for the use of transformative disaster management initiatives that can address longstanding vulnerabilities, social and economic injustices. Despite some limitations, this study provides empirical evidence that greater political sovereignty will not jeopardize access to natural hazard relief and is a significant asset towards mitigating future disasters. | en_US |
| Advisor | Aguirre, Benigno | |
| Degree | Ph.D. | |
| Program | University of Delaware, Disaster Science and Management Program | |
| Unique Identifier | 978270529 | |
| URL | http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/21153 | |
| Publisher | University of Delaware | en_US |
| URI | https://search.proquest.com/docview/1840889249?accountid=10457 | |
| Title | State sovereignty and natural hazards: a study on the legacy of the United Kingdom's imperial practices and disaster management activities of their island possesions | en_US |
| Title | State sovereignty and natural hazards: a study on the legacy of the United Kingdom's imperial practices and disaster management activities of their island possessions | en_US |
| Type | Thesis | en_US |