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Omar Pérez: Submarine Roots, Resisting (un)natural disasters

omarperez

I am interested in seeing how social ties and networks have been used to cope with (un)natural disasters. My research focus on places under disasters conditions such as Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria, in which social ties have made the difference between life and death. Furthermore, “natural” disaster has been used to approved austerity measures and unjust policies to impoverished communities like in New Orleans after Katrina. These policies were not new, as they are rooted in structures of power to preserve the status quo. Yet, people have resisted, “through a network of branches, cultures, and geographies” that has stimulated a reflective process of looking within for solutions rather than outside. As often this outside solutions are not only detached from community’s reality but can perpetuate social injustices and inequalities.

McKittrick, K., & Woods, C. A. (Eds.). (2007). Black geographies and the politics of place. South End Press.

Bullard, R. D., & Wright, B. (Eds.). (2009). Race, place, and environmental justice after Hurricane Katrina: Struggles to reclaim, rebuild, and revitalize New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Westview Press.

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Sara_Nesheiwat

These following quotes best exemplify the message of the article: 

" A nuclear emergency response group can no doubt benefit form improving the community resilience and emergency preparedness but this group will unavoidably carry an elite character." (p 196)

"The international community has come to acknowledge the magnitude of risk and responsibly involved in developing and safely operating nuclear facilities." (P. 199)

"To move forward with maximum efficient, an international nuclear response group needs to operationalize relevant experience form international disaster relief organizations." (p 201)

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Sara_Nesheiwat

This prgram is only offered in-camous adn takes roughtl 2-6 terms  to cp,plete. earnign the degree requires 38 points. Menaing fuill time studnes can copelte the program in one academic year and a summer. The degree requirements include  five Core Courses in Narrative Medicine (22 points) and the Research Methodology course (4 points), which is required for all students who have not taken a graduate-level course in research methodology. The other 12 to 16 points may include any combination of additional Topics in Narrative Medicine courses, elective courses chosen from other departments, Independent Study and/or Capstone (two to four points).

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Sara_Nesheiwat

"The distribution and outcome of chronic infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, are so tightly linked to social arrangements that it is difficult for clinicians treating these diseases to ignore social factors. Although AIDS is often considered a “social disease,” clinicians may have radically different understandings of what makes AIDS “social.”  

"The impact of structural violence is even more obvious in the world's poorest countries and has profound implications for those seeking to provide clinical services there.  "

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"We can begin to address this by “resocializing” our understanding of disease distribution and outcome. Even new diseases such as AIDS have quickly become diseases of the poor, and the development of effective therapies may have a perverse effect if we are unable to use them where they are needed most.  "

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Sara_Nesheiwat

"I argue that the shift to gender-based violence as the exemplary humanitarian problem could not have happened without the prior move to medicalise gender-based violence, and render it a medical condition like all others."

"Approaching gender-based violence as a medical or health issue alters how violence is both approached and understood; that is, rather than understanding gender violence in the context of gendered relations of power, or as part of larger histories and expressions of inequality which are inseparable from histories of class or race or colonialism, this type of medicalisation transforms gender-based violence into an emergency illness, requiring immediate intervention"

"Rape in armed conflicts played a central role in the recognition of the category of gender-based violence, putting it onto the human rights radar screen, first in the former Yugoslavia and later in Rwanda; human rights approaches forced the international humanitarian law system to understand rape as a particular form of violence"

"The role of humanitarian organisations was growing exponentially during this time: humanitarian intervention became increasingly important on the international scene after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and humanitarian organisations took their place as autonomous interlocutors, as recognised by the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to MSF in 1999"

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Sara_Nesheiwat
Annotation of

American Red Cross is an organization that learns and advances as new technologies relating to medicine and disease come out, but also an organization that learns from experience. As stated earlier, the organization began with assisting with war related needs and grew from that. Due to what they learned about medical needs of the Army, they were able to flourish and grow rapidly during America's actively military war time. Attending disaster areas such as, for one example, hurricanes such as Katrina, gave volunteers an experience working with that type of disaster. Next time when an area is afflicted with a similar disaster, the organization and its members are now better equipped to handle it. 

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Sara_Nesheiwat

The argument is supported through the presentation of research and findings from two research workshops that were organized in 2014 and 2015, which brought together experts and researchers in the field who analyzed organizational efforts and the efforts addressed in terms of  violence effecting healthcare delivery. In depth interviews were also utilized to support the argument as well as the analysis of current facts, figures and data that is currently out there on this topic.

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Sara_Nesheiwat

Past policies and global events are used to produce the arguments in this paper. The infrastructure set forth by the WHO and CDC in terms of biosecurity and protocols are cited repeatedly. The response to major historical outbreaks are the main details that are used in the paper in order to communicate the main points. Smallpox, flu and AIDS outbreaks are all noted as events we can learn from today in terms of threat response. 

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Sara_Nesheiwat

It is important to note that this is the third chapter of the book, so when looking up the bibliography online, it was determined that for the entire book, there were hundreds of citations and references used. Most of them were studies, articles and other works ranging over years and years, done by experts in the field. There were also a lot of press articles and studies from foreign countries as well. This all showing an extensive and thorough amount of research that went into this book. 

http://14.139.206.50:8080/jspui/bitstream/1/2057/1/Fassin,%20Didier%20%…