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Disaster, Debt, and ‘Underdevelopment’: The Cunning of Colonial-Capitalism in the Caribbean

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  • Levi Gahman

    (University of the West Indies
    University of Liverpool)

  • Gabrielle Thongs

    (University of the West Indies)

  • Adaeze Greenidge

    (University of the West Indies)

Abstract

This article provides a critical overview of the structural forces exacerbating risk related to disasters in the Caribbean. It focuses on the historical antecedents and socio-environmental consequences of extreme weather events across the region via an anti-colonial analysis of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 and Dorian in 2019. The authors contend that the logics, practices and debts of colonial-capitalist development, neoliberal exploitation and post-independence corruption continue to reduce resilience and threaten public health in the region. They also detail the role that political economy and social geography play in the face of disasters. They end by proposing that future critiques of and solutions to vulnerability, disaster, and catastrophe in the Caribbean be more attentive to the historical trajectories of imperialism, debt and ‘underdevelopment’.

Suggested Citation

  • Levi Gahman & Gabrielle Thongs & Adaeze Greenidge, 2021. "Disaster, Debt, and ‘Underdevelopment’: The Cunning of Colonial-Capitalism in the Caribbean," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 64(1), pages 112-118, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:develp:v:64:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1057_s41301-021-00282-4
    DOI: 10.1057/s41301-021-00282-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Leon Sealey-Huggins, 2017. "‘1.5°C to stay alive’: climate change, imperialism and justice for the Caribbean," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(11), pages 2444-2463, November.
    2. Carrie Arnold, 2019. "Death, statistics and a disaster zone: the struggle to count the dead after Hurricane Maria," Nature, Nature, vol. 566(7742), pages 22-25, February.
    3. Edmund Penning-Rowsell & Peter Floyd & David Ramsbottom & Suresh Surendran, 2005. "Estimating Injury and Loss of Life in Floods: A Deterministic Framework," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 36(1), pages 43-64, September.
    4. Matthew E. Kahn, 2005. "The Death Toll from Natural Disasters: The Role of Income, Geography, and Institutions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(2), pages 271-284, May.
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