Inequality, crisis and natural disasters

This course provides an overview of different perspectives on
inequality: how we understand and define inequality, how inequality is
reproduced and what actions can be taken to address inequality. More
specifically, the course explores how societal inequality manifests
itself by studying crises and disasters as such emergencies expose
inequality of various kinds.

Together, we work on questions of what can be done to prevent crises
and disasters. We pay particular attention to crises triggered by
climate-related natural disasters such as floods, droughts and storms. These are often presented as purely natural phenomena when in fact their
causes are strongly related to human and social factors.

In relation to these disasters, issues of
vulnerability and resilience take centre stage, which in turn are
related to issues of inequality; anyone can be affected by a disaster,
but some people live in more vulnerable conditions (and are more
severely affected) than others. In other words, disasters, which are
increasingly important to understand and address because they are the
result of unsustainable forms of development, climate change and lack of
adaptation, are events that can teach us something about social
inequality, its intersectional composition and how we can work on
prevention. Students practice applied research by writing an evaluation
of a disaster.

Teaching

Teaching consists mainly of lectures, seminars, individual writing exercises and group work.