Natural Disasters: Teaching (About) the Biopolitics of Disposability
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NIX-STEVENSON, DARA NILAJAH, Ph.D. A Query Into the Social Construction of (Un)natural Disasters: Teaching (About) the Biopolitics of Disposability. (2013) Directed by Dr. Leila E. Villaverde. 276 pp. This dissertation represents a theoretical and pragmatic interrogation of global disasters as natural in a comparative and historical context. Specifically the sixty year environmental degradation and contamination of Vieques, Puerto Rico by the U.S. Navy, The Boxer Day Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the Haiti Earthquake are examined to expose fault lines involved in shaping vulnerability and resiliency pre- and post- disaster environments. Research reveals that in post-disaster environments, social institutions operationalize a biopolitics of disposability that is deeply rooted in histories of colonization. Colonial histories, as elaborated upon, reinforce racio-economics or commonsense justifications of racial hierarchy that articulate and define protocols of disaster mitigation, preparation, and response in different global contexts. The framework for exploring the polemics of disasters as discussed here consists of critical discourse analysis through the lens of critical race theory (CRT), critical pedagogy, and womanist theory to problematize questions pertaining to which government agencies or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are best equipped to mobilize resources during times of disaster or crises. By focusing on the significance of racio-economics in exposing these (un)natural disaster’s impact on human lives imbued with complex race and class histories, the case for K-12 environmental science curriculum framework is made to increase society’s preparation against future disasters. A QUERY INTO THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF (UN)NATURAL DISASTERS: TEACHING (ABOUT) THE BIOPOLITICS OF DISPOSABILITY by Dara Nilajah Nix-Stevenson A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2013 Approved by Dr. Leila E. Villaverde______________ Committee Chair ©2013 Dara Nilajah Nix-Stevenson Dedicated to all the invisible and voiceless Beloveds. ii APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair. _Dr. Leila E. Villaverde_________ Committee Members. _Dr. Silvia Bettez______________ _Dr. Katherine Jamieson_________ _Dr. Rochelle Brock___________ March 20, 2013_______________ Date of Acceptance by Committee March 20, 2013_____________ Date of Final Oral Examination iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My gratitude is extended to my Dissertation Committee. A special heartfelt “thank you” extends to my Dissertation Committee Chair, Dr. Leila E. Villaverde whose unwavering sagacity, knowledge, and insights pushed me to the edge and depths of my intellectual limits. Not only did she urge me to seek the contexts, environments, and conversations in life that invite sacrifice, alienation, and rejection, she implored me to dwell in them. Gratitude is not sufficient enough of an expression to characterize the level of indebtedness I feel for the ONE who has forever changed my life by introducing me to critical pedagogy and in so doing has encouraged me to revel in reading and questioning all contexts, environments, and conversations that I encounter in life. I am forever grateful to Dr. Silvia Bettez for introducing me to her conceptualization of critical community and modeling its tenets in her daily practice. Not least of all, I appreciate her for introducing me to the brilliance of Dr. Rochelle Brock and her Pedagogy of Wholeness theory along with Dr. Megan Boler’s empathy theory. Dr. Katherine Jamieson, Dr. Leila E. Villaverde’s intellectual partner who is always in pursuit of academic excellence in the Academy, has pushed me by example to critically examine all things in the world as text. This has made me not only reflect on how I critically read texts in the world, but to also be mindful of how my body inhabits the world and is read. Dr. Rochelle Brock, Womanist Extraordinaire and architect of the Pedagogy of Wholeness is more than a mentor. The Pedagogy of Wholeness is forever branded in my iv psyche and on my soul and serves as a daily reminder that I am and have always been enough. Without my life partner and soul mate Tomietta Brown (The OTHER ONE) exemplifying steadfast patience, faith, and unconditional love, none of this would be possible. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I. DENATURALIZING DISASTER TEACHING COMPARATIVELY ON VIEQUES, THE BOXER DAY TSUNAMI, KATRINA, HAITI: EXPOSING THE BIOPOLITICS OF DISPOSABILITY ...............................1 Introduction .................................................................................................1 Disasters of Historical Record ...................................................................11 Methodology and Theoretical Framing ....................................................31 Scholarly Significance ..............................................................................52 II. LEARNING THROUGH DISASTER OR CRISIS: THE EDUCATOR’S ROLE IN BRIDGING CLASSROOM, CURRICULUM, AND COMMUNITY ........................................................55 “Routedness” to Constructing a Disaster Risk Reduction Footprint ...............................................................................................78 III. BORDER THINKING AS A PREREQUISITE FOR DISASTER OR CRISIS RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE .......................................... 88 IV. ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE: PEDAGOGIC STRATEGIES FOR CONFRONTING EMPIRE ................................................................ 131 Articulations of and Against Empire .......................................................131 Empire Operationalized in New Orleans .................................................135 Empire Operationalized in Haiti ..............................................................137 The Role and Responsibility of NGOs in Minimizing Empire’s Reach ...................................................................................141 V. MEDIATED REPRESENTATION OF DISASTER OR CRISIS THROUGH A CRITICAL PLACE-BASED LENS ...................................145 VI. CRITICAL GEOGRAPHY, PUBLIC PEDAGOGY, AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS ...................171 vi VII. THE PEDAGOGICAL POTENTIAL OF DISASTER OR CRISIS: TEACHING CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION .................206 History of Environmental Issues in Environmental Education ...............209 Environmental Justice and “Critical” Environmental Education Synergy ..............................................................................................214 Envisioning Critical Environmental Education: The Role and Responsibility of the Critical Environmental Educator .....................223 Envisioning Critical Environmental Education in Theory and Practice ....................................................................................... 225 Conclusion ...............................................................................................236 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 240 ENDNOTES ................................................................................................................... 275 vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Number of People Reported Killed by Type of Disaster and Level of Development, 1990-2008 ................................................................13 Table 2. Top Ten Earthquakes Globally by Mortality, 1970-2009 ...................................16 Table 3. Deadliest Disasters Since 1970 ........................................................................... 18 Table 4. Top Ten Natural Disasters in Haiti by Mortality, 1970-2008 ............................. 19 Table 5. Capital Keywords ............................................................................................. 146 Table 6. Population Characteristics Influencing Social Vulnerability ............................ 158 Table 7. Myths and Realities in the Public Health Response to Disasters ..................... 191 Table 8. Lessons Learned from Recent Crises ................................................................ 203 Table 9. Education Across 4R’s (Reading, Response, Recovery, Resilience): The Move Toward Integration ..................................................................... 224 Table 10. Evolution of Learning from Web 1.0 to 2.0 Environment .............................. 230 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Percentage of Population Living Under $2.00 Per Day ....................................14 Figure 2. Reported Deaths by Natural Disaster Types: 1970-2009 ...................................15 Figure 3. Number of Natural Disaster, 1900- 2005 .......................................................... 26 Figure 4. Number of Hydro-meteorological Disasters, 1991-2005 .................................. 28 Figure 5. Milvertha Hendricks, 84 .................................................................................... 38 Figure 6. Blaming and Framing Nature for Disasters