Bosher et al _DC_IR.pdf (284.02 kB)
Resource Accessibility and Vulnerability in Andhra Pradesh: Caste and Non-Caste Influences
journal contribution
posted on 2009-02-19, 13:49 authored by Lee Bosher, Edmund Penning-Rowsell, Sue TapsellCoastal Andhra Pradesh in southern India is prone to tropical cyclones. Access
to key resources can reduce the vulnerability of the local population to both
large-scale disasters, such as cyclones, and to the sort of small-scale crises that
affect their everyday lives. This article uses primary fieldwork to present a
resource accessibility vulnerability index for over 300 respondents. The index
indicates that caste is the key factor in determining who has assets, who can
access public facilities, who has political connections and who has supportive
social networks. The ‘lower’ castes (which tend to be the poorest) are
marginalized to the extent that they lack access to assets, public facilities and
opportunities to improve their plight. However, the research also indicates that
the poor and powerless lower castes are able to utilize informal social
networks to bolster their resilience, typically by women’s participation with
CBOs and NGOs. Nevertheless it is doubtful whether this extra social capital
counterbalances the overall results which show that — despite decades of
counteractions by government — caste remains a dominant variable affecting
the vulnerability of the people of coastal Andhra Pradesh to the hazards that
they face.
History
School
- Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Research Unit
- Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC)
Citation
BOSHER, L.S., PENNING-ROWSELL, E. and TAPSELL, S., 2007. Resource Accessibility and Vulnerability in Andhra Pradesh: Caste and Non-Caste Influences. Development and Change, 38 (4), pp. 615 - 640Publisher
© Blackwell Publishing LtdVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2007Notes
This article was published in the journal, Development and Change [© Blackwell Publishing]. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.comISSN
0012-155XLanguage
- en