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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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jaostrander

Andrew Lakoff works in the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California Los Angeles. He studies social theory and is a medical anthropologist. While he is not directly situated within the emergency response system, his knowledge from studying past events and how the system works may provide insight into better emergency response techniques.

Stephan Collier is a Doctor of Philosophy and works at The New School. While he is also not situated within the emergency response system, his outside views and understandings could help to improve techniques used by providers.

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jaostrander

This article address emergency response and public health in that providers are there to help patients and releive suffering and in doing that, specifically in times of crisis protocols are broken and morals come into play a little more. In this article a doctor euthanized suffering patients who may or may not have been rescued from the hospital during hurricane Katrina. 

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jaostrander

The authors, Vicanne Adams, Taslim Van Hattum, and Diana English work at the University of California San Francisco in the department of anthropology, history, and social medicine. The department’s research includes aspects of global health, social theory, critical medical anthropology, and disaster recovery.