Rooting out the evil: The stakes of addressing the structural and intersectional dimension of vulnerability in specific disaster laws

Abstract

This article stems from a desire to initiate a discussion on the apparent discrepancy between the deeply political origins of disaster scholars’ definitions of ‘disaster risk’ and ‘vulnerability’, and their widespread depoliticized use by legal scholars, policy makers, and legal practitioners. Using the PAR framework and the feminist concept of intersectionality to recall the radical aspects of these notions and their theoretical implications for DRR, it reviews 25 specific national disaster legislations to document how the structural and intersectional dimension of vulnerability has so far been addressed in specific disaster laws. Rather than providing the reader with definite answers, it highlights some positive patterns and raises questions on the risks associated with adopting a DRR approach emptied of its structural and intersectional dimension. By doing so, it aims to pave the way for a more sustainable reduction of risks and vulnerability.