Talking about volcanoes: institutional narratives, the nature of risk, and Mount Mayon in the Philippines

Abstract

Volcanoes are talked about as if they are one and the same thing. If they are differentiated, they are referred to as active or inactive, and classified according to their structure and composition. Volcanoes, however, do not mean the same thing to all people. Mount Mayon in Albay province, Philippines, is a case in point. Through interviews with a volcanologist, an engineer, a politician, a historian, and a local resident, this paper explores what people think a volcano is and the risks it poses. These informants do not share a common narrative. Their personal storylines are embedded in public narratives that are fixed in time and place, and master narratives that reflect the social values and standards of their group or profession. How stories are told, what is said, and the context within which they emerge constitute an institutional narrative that is important to understanding better how people perceive risk and improving disaster risk management.

Volcanic disaster risk reduction in indigenous communities on Tanna Island, Vanuatu

“…Refs. [34,38,42]. Meanwhile, our findings also spot multiple views on Mt Yasur and multiple interpretations of its eruptions and the power of rituals (e.g.…”

“…Ref. [34]. For instance, while Lamakara strictly follows protocols and believes in the power of the rituals, Port Resolution is somewhat open to accepting external ontologies.…”

“…Because livestock is a substantial asset, villagers often cannot leave them behind and volcano ash helps enrich the soil which in turn poses an advantage for agriculture in communities adjacent to a volcano [33]. As a result, when an eruption occurs, the thought of staying in their motherland and having access to their products outweighs the destruction caused by the eruption, and the thought of being relocated and losing all they have worked for becomes a difficult decision [26,34,35].…”

“…Ref. [34]. That is, for some, a volcano is an entity that may cause a hazard; hence living near a volcano is a risk.…”

“…However, for others, as seen above, a volcano provides a source of livelihood and because of their living experiences with a volcano, it is not necessarily seen as a risk. For those people, a "hazard" and "risk" is caused by DRRs implemented by a top-down approach, that do not incorporate "traditional worldviews, knowledge, and practices to facilitate the (re)building of the individual and collective adaptive capacities" [3]; p2; see also [34,36,37].…”