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Disaster Governance on St. Maarten

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Disaster Governance on St. Maarten DISASTER GOVERNANCE ON ST. MAARTEN A study on how disaster governance in combination with St. Maarten’s development affected the disaster response in the wake of Hurricane Irma Joey de Hamer 950929302180 MSc Thesis Sociology of Development and Change May 2019 1 i Wageningen University - Department of Social Sciences MSc Thesis: Sociology of Development and Change __________________________________________________________________________________ Disaster governance on St. Maarten A study on how disaster governance in combination with St. Maarten’s development affected the disaster response in the wake of Hurricane Irma May 2019 MSc Program Name of Student Development and Rural Innovation (MDR) Joey de Hamer 950929302180 Specialisation Supervisors Sociology of Development and Change (SDC) dr. Robert Coates & dr. Jeroen Warner Thesis code Name of Second Assessor SDC-80430 prof.dr.ir. Han van Dijk ii Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to all those who helped me in completing this thesis. I would like to thank my supervisors, Robert Coates & Jeroen Warner, for their support and guidance throughout the entire thesis process. Their feedback, advice and recommendations helped me to develop a vague topic of interest into a concrete research proposal and finally, into a complete M.Sc. thesis. Furthermore, I would like to thank the employees from the Nature Foundation St. Maarten. A large portion of the data in this thesis would not have been available had they not have been so generous with their time, network and information. I also would like to thank the people I interviewed during my fieldwork period, as they helped me in gaining more knowledge and understanding on the topic and culture. Last but not least, I would like to thank my friends and family who supported me in numerous ways. I would not have been able to finish this thesis without their advice and support. Joey de Hamer May 2019 iii Abstract With the increase in visibility and frequency of disasters, governments have developed more agencies, focussing on managing such disastrous events. These agencies – apparatuses – aim to protect and foster human populations. This governmental concern over the human population is identified by Michel Foucault as biopolitical. The existence of such agencies and accompanied sets of measures does, however, not simply imply that potential impacts of disaster can be reduced. The functioning of these agencies is related to the overall strength of the governance system in which it operates. If an overall governance system is considered weak, as often the case in less-developed countries, then the potential for severe disaster impacts is considerably higher. This thesis therefore highlights, that when analysing the functioning of a disaster management structure in the wake of a disaster, looking into historical forces influencing this structure should be considered. Consequently, this thesis focusses on St. Maarten, which was hit by a major hurricane – named Irma – in 2017. Building on interviews, literature and observations, this thesis argues that a certain form of governmentality on St. Maarten in the aftermath of Irma has led to a situation in which community members have not experienced (much) support from governmental institutions. It is executing a biopolitical response through the development of certain apparatuses, as these classify the population into groups who may or may not receive help. This is eventually contributing to the increase in vulnerable situations on St. Maarten. __________________________________________________________________________________ Key words: disaster governance, disaster politics, governmentality, biopolitics iv v Table of content Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ iii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iv 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Background information ...................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Island till the discovery of Columbus ............................................................................................ 4 2.2 Island after the discovery of Columbus ......................................................................................... 4 2.3 Development of tourism 1950s-present ......................................................................................... 6 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 10 2.5 Power on the island ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 15 3. Theoretical background ..................................................................................................................... 17 3.1 Disaster advocating changes or windows of opportunity ............................................................ 17 3.2 Disaster politics ........................................................................................................................... 18 3.3 Governmentality, biopower & biopolitics ................................................................................... 19 3.4 Biopolitics of disaster .................................................................................................................. 21 3.5 Governmentality and the link to disaster politics ........................................................................ 22 3.6 Disaster governance .................................................................................................................... 23 4. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 25 4.1 Research set up ............................................................................................................................ 25 4.2 Research methods for data collection .......................................................................................... 26 4.3 Data analysis................................................................................................................................ 30 4.4 Fieldwork..................................................................................................................................... 30 5. Disaster governance on St. Maarten .................................................................................................. 33 5.1 Organisational structure of disaster management on St. Maarten ............................................... 34 5.2 Description of Irma and preparation done before Irma ............................................................... 36 5.3 Response after Irma ..................................................................................................................... 38 5.3.1 First emergency response ..................................................................................................... 38 5.3.2 Long term response .............................................................................................................. 44 vi 5.3.3 The link to disaster politics and biopolitics .......................................................................... 47 5.3.4 Implications regarding the trust fund ................................................................................... 48 6. Result of the disaster response .......................................................................................................... 51 6.1 The housing situation on St. Maarten .......................................................................................... 51 6.2 Health issues ................................................................................................................................ 55 6.3 Training program ......................................................................................................................... 56 6.4 Future development of St. Maarten ............................................................................................. 58 7. Discussion ......................................................................................................................................... 62 7.1 Linking theory to the results ........................................................................................................ 62 7.2 Relevance to literature ................................................................................................................. 69 7.3 Limitations................................................................................................................................... 69 8. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 70 Literature ............................................................................................................................................... 73 Annex ...................................................................................................................................................
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