Calvillo, Nerea, Garde-Hansen, Joanne, Lima-Silva, Fernanda, Trajber, Rachel and Albuquerque, João Porto de (2022) From extreme weather events to ‘cascading vulnerabilities’ : participatory flood research methodologies in Brazil during COVID-19. Journal of Extreme Events . doi:10.1142/S2345737622410020 ISSN 2345-7376. (In Press)

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Abstract

Extreme weather events are entangled with each other and with other extreme events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-racist protests, drought, a housing crisis, strikes, or climate emergencies, as well as with more general inadequacies due to national, economic, and political upheavals and accreted vulnerabilities from long-term policies or inactions. Effects of extreme weather events are intensified by ongoing social injustices like poverty and structural racism, a housing deficit, and the consequent informal and unplanned occupation of hazardous areas, such as riverbanks, and areas of previous social-environmental disasters. In the context of Brazil, the ongoing deforestation in the Amazon (agribusiness, mining and illegal wood) provoking droughts and energy shortages in the region creates further vulnerabilities that are felt globally. In this paper, our primary contribution to these inter-connected scenarios is to describe methodological interventions that were made in response to COVID-19, and to show how those changes provided new insights into vulnerability processes of both subjects and researchers. During a larger project (Waterproofing Data), focused on the case study research areas of São Paulo and Acre (Brazil) wherein our wider team conducted flood-risk community research, we were forced to rethink our approach. We moved away from the singularity of the flood event and its impacts toward acknowledging the cascading conditions of social vulnerability (caused by weather, health, social and political conditions). In this paper, we directly address the ‘cascade of vulnerabilities’ that the flood-prone communities already encounter when researchers seek to engage with them. We open new avenues to reconsider citizenship, space, and innovation in terms of the key challenges that our methods encountered when conducting participatory flood research methodologies, particularly during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to November 2021. Through flood research in Brazil, we articulate methodological contributions from the arts, humanities, and social sciences for more realistic, just, and caring research practices within and about weather in the context of ‘slow violence’ [Nixon, R (2013). Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP].

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GB Physical geography Q Science > QC Physics T Technology > TC Hydraulic engineering. Ocean engineering
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies > Centre for Cultural Policy Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Climatic extremes , Floods -- Effect of climate on, Flood control, Flood control -- Social aspects , Floodplains -- Monitoring -- Brazil
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Extreme Events
Publisher:	World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
ISSN:	2345-7376
Official Date:	2022
Dates:	Date Event 2022 Published 31 August 2022 Available 7 August 2022 Accepted
DOI:	10.1142/S2345737622410020
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	In Press
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights):	Electronic version of an article published as Journal of Extreme Events, Volume, Issue, Year, Pages] http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S2345737622410020 © World Scientific Publishing Company https://www.worldscientific.com
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit:	8 September 2022
Date of first compliant Open Access:	8 September 2022
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:	Project/Grant ID RIOXX Funder Name Funder ID ES/S006982/1 Belmont Forum https://www.belmontforum.org/ UNSPECIFIED Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Horizon 2020 Framework Programme http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010661

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