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Sharing the Pain: Perceptions of Fairness Affect Private and Public Response to Hazards

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  • W. Neil Adger
  • Tara Quinn
  • Irene Lorenzoni
  • Conor Murphy

Abstract

Structural causes of vulnerability to hazards are well established in geographical research. But what facilitates individual adaptive behavior? How does the performance of government intervention affect such behavior? Drawing on political economy, environmental psychology, and climate justice perspectives, we explore how perceived fairness of responses to weather-related extreme events affects the public and private distribution of responsibility and action. We focus on flood risk and examine how perceptions of fairness of response by residents in flood-affected areas, along with their prior experience of flooding and perceptions of scope of government responsibility and capacity, affect willingness to take individual adaptive action. We use data from surveys of 356 households affected by a flood event in November 2009 in Cumbria, UK, and Galway, Ireland, to compare perceptions of fairness of responses and private intentions across two political jurisdictions. We find that aspects of fairness are related to willingness to take adaptive action but vary with context, experience, and knowledge of flooding. In Cumbria, where there is greater experience of flooding, willingness to act correlates with procedural justice, risk knowledge, and capacity. Capacity for flood management in Galway is firmly associated with state agencies, whereas in Cumbria it is perceived to result from responsibilities of public and private action. These findings highlight the central role of government action and its perceived fairness in structuring private responses to environmental risks and point to the crucial role of climate justice perspectives in navigating adaptation.

Suggested Citation

  • W. Neil Adger & Tara Quinn & Irene Lorenzoni & Conor Murphy, 2016. "Sharing the Pain: Perceptions of Fairness Affect Private and Public Response to Hazards," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 106(5), pages 1079-1096, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:raagxx:v:106:y:2016:i:5:p:1079-1096
    DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2016.1182005
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    Cited by:

    1. Erik Persson & Åsa Knaggård & Kerstin Eriksson, 2021. "Public Perceptions concerning Responsibility for Climate Change Adaptation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-23, November.
    2. Alexandra Revez & Jose A Cortes-Vazquez & Stephen Flood, 2017. "Risky policies: Local contestation of mainstream flood risk management approaches in Ireland," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(11), pages 2497-2516, November.
    3. Solecki William & Leichenko Robin & Eisenhauer David, 2017. "Extreme Climate Events, Household Decision-Making and Transitions in the Immediate Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy," Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development, Sciendo, vol. 21(4), pages 139-150, December.
    4. Alexander Bisaro & Mark Bel & Jochen Hinkel & Sien Kok & Laurens M. Bouwer, 2020. "Leveraging public adaptation finance through urban land reclamation: cases from Germany, the Netherlands and the Maldives," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 671-689, June.
    5. Elisabeth A. Shrimpton & Dexter Hunt & Chris D.F. Rogers, 2021. "Justice in (English) Water Infrastructure: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Justin See & Brooke Wilmsen, 2022. "A multidimensional framework for assessing adaptative justice: a case study of a small island community in the Philippines," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 1-21, January.
    7. Butler, Catherine & Walker-Springett, Kate & Adger, W. Neil, 2018. "Narratives of recovery after floods: Mental health, institutions, and intervention," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 67-73.
    8. Edgeley, Catrin M. & Paveglio, Travis B. & Williams, Daniel R., 2020. "Support for regulatory and voluntary approaches to wildfire adaptation among unincorporated wildland-urban interface communities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Katherine E. Laycock & Wayne Caldwell, 2018. "Exploring Community Cohesion in Rural Canada Post-Extreme Weather: Planning Ahead for Unknown Stresses," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 77-97, August.

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