“Respect existence or expect … resilience?” epistemic reflexivity towards liberated disaster studies

Abstract

PurposeThis paper proposes a way of reflexing on how we think within critical disaster studies. It focuses on the biases and unthought dimensions of two concepts – resilience and development – and reflects on the relationship between theory and practice in critical disaster studies.Design/methodology/approachPremised on the idea of epistemic reflexivity developed by Pierre Bourdieu, and drawing on previous research, this theoretical article analyses two conceptual biases and shortcomings of disaster studies: how resilience builds on certain agency; and how development assumes certain political imagination.FindingsThe article argues that critical disaster scholars must reflect on their own intellectual practice, including the origin of concepts and what they do. This is exemplified by a description of how the idea of resistance is intimately connected to that of resilience, and by showing that we must go beyond the capitalist realism that typically underlies development and risk creation. The theoretical advancement of our field can provide ways of thinking about the premises of many of our concepts.Originality/valueThe paper offers an invitation for disaster researchers to engage with critical thought and meta-theoretical reflexions. To think profoundly about our concepts is a necessary first step to developing critical scholarship. Epistemic reflexivity in critical disaster studies therefore provides an interesting avenue by which to liberate the field from overly technocratic approaches and develop its own criticality.

A conceptual exploration of researcher positionality and critical reflexivity in disaster research through the lens of Bourdieu

“…Phillips (2014, p. 39) and others (e.g. Fuentealba, 2024;Gaillard, 2019;Stallings, 2007;Uekusa, 2019) suggested that the benefits of research encompass not only gaining insights from disaster survivors to enhance disaster management and risk reduction but empowering them and contributing to the broader good and justice through scientific advancement.…”

“…Reflexivity entails questioning our habitus and actively challenging dominant discourses and epistemologies that may perpetuate power imbalances or silences within a research field (Fuentealba, 2024). Bourdieu's theories provide a valuable lens for analyzing ongoing power negotiations, fluidity of social structure.…”

“…Abeysinghe and Leppold, 2023;Goodall et al, 2022;Phillips, 2014;Stallings, 2007;Wu et al, 2022), and epistemic reflexivity-critical reflection on our positionalities and own research practice-is paramount in qualitative research (e.g. Uekusa, 2019;Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992;Bukamal, 2022;Fuentealba, 2024;Mason-Bish, 2018;Miyazawa, 2018;Mouzelis, 2017;Mullings, 1999). However, critical theoretical perspectives on researcher positionality in disaster research are scarce as the field tends to be dominated by positivist approaches.…”