Climate (In)justice: An Intersectional Feminist Analysis of Disaster Management in Antigua and Barbuda in the Aftermath of Hurricane Irma

Melina Kotsinas

doi:10.22151/politikon.47.1

Authors

Melina Kotsinas Stockholm University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.47.1

Keywords:

Antigua and Barbuda, Climate Change, Disaster Management, Hurricane Irma, Intersectional Feminism, Resilience, SIDS, Vulnerability

Abstract

This article discusses disaster management in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Antigua and Barbuda. Vulnerability and resilience of individuals and groups in relation to disaster management are placed within structures such as gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, age and socio-economic status, etc. How stakeholders within disaster management such as the Directorate of Gender Affairs, the National Office of Disaster Services, and District Coordinators, understand and respond to vulnerability and resilience might reinforce or challenge such structures and power relations. This study draws on insights from intersectional feminism to examine which social categories are made (in)visible, and how power relations are reproduced or challenged. It shows that some social categories (age, family status, class and occupation) in relation to gender gain more attention than others (disability and sexuality). The understandings and responses make some social categories that have previously been invisible visible, and heteronormative and patriarchal processes were both reproduced and challenged.

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Author Biography

Melina Kotsinas, Stockholm University

Melina Kotsinas, from Sweden is a master graduate of Stockholm University with experience from Barbados, Mozambique, Antigua and Barbuda. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science at Stockholm University in 2017. In 2019, she got her master’s degree in Political Science at Stockholm University with her thesis entitled “Leaving No One Behind: A Minor Field Study with an Intersectional Feminist Analysis of Disaster Management in Antigua and Barbuda.” Her research interests fall under International Relations, Critical and Gender studies, specifically climate justice, social justice, intersectionality and resilience. Currently, she is working at Plan International as a project officer and coordinator for an innovation project that focuses on girls and young women (and non-binary children and youth) living in fragile contexts at risk of environmental breakdown that will ideate solutions based on Girls-Centered Design that strengthen their resilience to shocks and stressors.