Learning from the Locals: The Importance of Community Perspectives in Countering “Expert” Bias in Disaster Response - Mattes

Learning from the Locals: The Importance of Community Perspectives in Countering “Expert” Bias in Disaster Response

 

CHAIRS: CHAIKEN, Miriam S. (NMSU) and COMPANION, Michèle (UCCS)

 

JOHNSON, Katherine J., NEEDELMAN, Brian A., and PAOLISSO, Michael (UMD) Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Change in a Rural Coastal Community RIVERA, Jason D. (SUNY Buffalo State) AccessingDisaster Recovery Resource Information: Reliance on Social Capital in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy MATTES, Seven (MI State U) Resiliency Tactics for Animals in Disaster: Lessons from Japan HUDDLESTON, Chad (SIUE) “Prepper” as Resilient Citizen: What Preppers Can Teach Us About Surviving Disasters DISCUSSANTS: CHAIKEN, Miriam S. (NMSU) and COMPANION, Michèle (UCCS)

 

CHAIKEN, Miriam S. (NMSU) and COMPANION, Michèle (UCCS) Learning from the Locals: The Importance of Community Perspectives in Countering “Expert” Bias in Disaster Response. The field of disaster mitigation has grown and expanded, becoming ever more professional and data-driven, as disaster professionals seek to build resilience in the face of shocks and mitigate against negative impacts. Despite the progress in this field, there is often an implicit bias that the “experts” are best at responding to disasters, with local knowledge treated as folk wisdom. These papers examine the ways in which “experts” sometimes failed to produce the desired response, and where greater reliance on indigenous knowledge systems and “insider” perspectives were warranted.

 

Session took place in Santa Fe, NM at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in March 2017.