Losing Louisiana

A Neopragmatic Perspective on the Processual Nature of Landscape—Coastal Land Loss in Louisiana in the Context of Scientific Findings, Social Patterns of Interpretation, and Individual Experience

“…These become particularly clear depending on whether there is a personal experience of the effects of the loss of the coast and the passage of hurricanes because the constructions can be differentiated into internal and external views of the topic. As Burley [178] and Lambert et al [175] also found in their studies, the part of the coastal population that has a personal connection to the wetlands and feels affected by the loss of land has an a-modal constructed internal view based on first-person experiences of the issue (cf. [55][56][57]).…”

“…Lambert concluded that "familiarity with and knowledge about coastal land loss was most often related to either indirect experiences through social connections or direct, personal experience" [175] (p. 7). Burley also pointed out that the affected people have a physical closeness as well as a "cognitive closeness" to land loss [178] (p. 106). While the studies by Burley [178] and Lambert et al [175] primarily interviewed people with an internal view, the triangulation of methods and data in this study also allowed the external view to be included to investigate possible differences in the construction of coastal land loss.…”

“…Burley also pointed out that the affected people have a physical closeness as well as a "cognitive closeness" to land loss [178] (p. 106). While the studies by Burley [178] and Lambert et al [175] primarily interviewed people with an internal view, the triangulation of methods and data in this study also allowed the external view to be included to investigate possible differences in the construction of coastal land loss. The empirical findings show that those who have had no personal contact with the effects of coastal land loss and who have not yet experienced a hurricane base their interpretations of it on socially and media-communicated content of the b-mode (cf.…”

“…It is also evident that the loss or uninhabitableness of a property (Landscape 1) in particular, as a direct consequence of coastal land loss, represented a loss of economic capital for those affected and in, some cases, posed extreme challenges with regard to resettlement, sometimes even making it impossible and thus adding to the emotional burden of the loss of the home (landscape 1a) (cf. [175,178]). More so, the only options for protection were investing in higher building standards, especially rising buildings high above the ground or other adaptions to homes, as well as insurance covering hurricane damages.…”

Inventing the managed realignment of the coast: Trying ‘to live with nature not defeat her’

“…In the United States, the second half of the twentieth century was a time of a growing public sensitivity to environmental problems. At the coast, greater awareness of threatening hazards combined with an increasing frequency of storms and coastal flooding (Burley, 2010; Neal et al, 2005). Those changes led the national government to appoint its Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources (known as the Stratton Commission) to propose new solutions at the coast (Merrell & Katsouros, 2001).…”