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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.

Historicizing Inland Empire

Here, diachronic and synchronic timelines allow us to unlayer the interwedged leaves of time that often inform anthropological analysis.

Historicizing Inland Empire

Here, diachronic and synchronic timelines allow us to unlayer the interwedged leaves of time that often inform anthropological analysis.

Historicizing Inland Empire

Here, diachronic and synchronic timelines allow us to unlayer the interwedged leaves of time that often inform anthropological analysis.

Data/Inland Empire

Types of data, and how we situate and maintain them, is a critical aspect of considering what a multi-modal or open access anthropology will look like.

Core Categories Inland Empire

In this sketch, I decided to take a  theoretical approach, mapping out what theoretical core categories might be integral to this kind of research.