Disaster risk reduction for linguists and translators, with some explanation of the nature and state of the field. And the challenges of multi-lingual settings.

1. Disaster Risk Reduction
in Multilingual Settings
David Alexander
University College London

2. Definitions

3. Vol. 1 Vol. 2

4. "...to worry about what the term
'disaster' means is not to dedicate oneself
to an academic exercise without meaning.
Instead it is to focus in a fundamental
way on what should be considered
important and significant..."
(Quarantelli 1995)

5. "If scholars in the field cannot even
agree on the question of whether a
'disaster' is fundamentally a social
construction or a physical event, then
clearly the discipline has problems."
(Quarantelli, 1998)

6. In disaster risk reduction
we have a definitional morass

7. The structure
of the field

8. Recovery
and
reconstruction
Mitigation
and
resilience
Preparation
and
mobilisation
Emergency
intervention
Quiescence
Crisis
The
disaster
cycle

9. Recovery
and
reconstruction
Mitigation
and
resilience
Preparation
and
mobilisation
Emergency
intervention
Crisis
Emergency
planning and
organisation
of
security
systems
Warning
and
preparation;
damage
limitation
measures
activated
Emergency
operations
and damage
limitation
Recovery and
restoration
Safety
manage-
ment of
emergency
operations
Quiescence

10. Emergency Disaster Catastrophe
Scenarios for emergency planning
- fundamental concepts -
(Hazard x Vulnerability x Exposure)
Resilience
= Risk
[ → Impact → Response]

11. Civil contingencies
Resilience
management
The risk environment
Business
continuity
Civil
defence
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
Civil
protection
Humanitarian
Relief

12. Risk
Civil defence
Hazard
Vulnerability
Threat
Exposure
Response
Mitigation Protection
Civil protection

13. Armed aggression
on the part of states
Civil defence
Natural disasters
Civil protection
Armed aggression
on the part of
groups of dissidents
"Homeland security"
(civil defence)
"Generic" disasters
"Civil contingencies"
(resilience)

14. Civil Defence
Civil Protection
Instability
threats
Enhanced
natural hazards
Complex
hazards
Natural
hazards
Evolving
strategic
situation
Large
technological
hazards
Evolving
climate
change
'Na-tech'
(hybrid)
hazards
Major
geophysical
events
Top-down
Bottom-up

15. Locus of
control
Locus of
collaboration
(support)
Tension of
opposites
Command
function
principle
Support
function
principle
Spectrum of
alternatives

16. Co-locate
Communicate
Co-ordinate
Jointly
understand risk
Share situational
awareness
Common
operating picture
Joint
Emergency
Services
Inter-
operability
Programme

17. Formerly the Monitoring
and Information Centre

18. IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS
(employing resources)
MONITORING AND FEEDBACK
ETHICAL
PRINCIPLES
& CORE VALUES
STRATEGIC
DECISIONS (finding
and committing resources)
TACTICAL DECISIONS
(allocating resources)
FLOW OF
DIRECTION AND
HARMONISATION
FLOW OF
EXPERIENCE
AND FIELD
INFORMATION
'Top-down' and
'bottom-up'

19. Command function principle:
command and control
model
Support function principle:
collaborative and cooperation
model
Information
technology
Management
decisions

20. Emergency management:
an evolutionary approach
Proxy Participatory
Civil defence...............Civil protection
Command and control
Vertical chain
of command
Population excluded
Law and order
Secrecy
Collaboration
Task forces
Population consulted
and included
Problem solving
Openness

21. Organisational
systems:
management
Social
systems:
behaviour
Natural
systems:
function
Technical
systems:
malfunction
VulnerabilityHazard
Resilience
Political
systems:
decisions

22. Culture

23. THE WAR ON HAZARDS AND DISASTERS
CULTURE
HISTORY
EVENTS
CONTEXT
RISKS
INCREASING
MORE
FREQUENT
IMPACTS
LOSSES
RISING
VULNERABILITY
HAZARDS

24. Disaster
Risk
Reduction
Culture
Economics
Access to
knowledge
Theweight
ofhistory
CONSTRAINTS

25. Diffusion of information
Perceptual filter
Cultural filter
Emergency not decoded
Emergency decoded
Ignorance
Images
of reality
Symbolic
constructions
Enlightenment

26. Filter
Perception
Culture
Decision
Action
Result
Positive Negative
Risk
Accurate Inaccurate

27. Technology
as risk
mitigation
Technology
as a source
of vulnerability
Research,
development
and investment
in technology
individual
family
peer group
organisation
community
society
international
Culturalfilter
Sociocentrism Technocentrism

28. Kenneth L. Pike
1912-2000
Etic and
emic

29. Long term
Short term
Emic components
Etic components
METAMORPHOSIS
OF CULTURE
Experiences of culture
[mass-media and consumer culture]
Accumulated cultural traits and beliefs
Inherited cultural background
Ideological
(non-scientific)
interpretations
of disaster
Learned
(scientific)
interpretations
of disaster

30. Value
system
Family
culture
Work
culture
Peer
group
culture
Personal
culture
National culture
Regional culture

31. Etic
elements
of culture
Emic
elements
of
culture
Area
of cultural
interpenetration

32. Retribution Judgement Portent
DISASTERMEANING ACCEPTANCE
Retrospective
interpretation
Predictive
interpretation
Traditional view of disaster - modern parallels?

33. Symbolism
inherent in
technological
culture
Traditional
symbolism
and portent
Event
Interpretation
Dynamic cultural
metamorphosis

34. Resilient
culture
Culture of
resilience

35. INSTRUMENTS OF
DISSEMINATION
• mass media
• targeted campaign
• social networks
• internet
Augmentation
MASS
EDUCATION
PROGRAMME
HUMAN
CAPITAL
HABIT
CULTURE
The creation of a culture of civil protection

36. BENIGN (healthy)
at the service of the people
MALIGN (corrupt)
at the service of vested interests
interplay dialectic
Justification Development
[spiritual, cultural, political, economic]
IDEOLOGY CULTURE

37. Learning to
work together

38. Basic concepts:
hazard, vulnerability,
exposure, risk,
impact, resilience, etc.
Hazard
analysis
Technical skills:
telecomminications
computer, GIS, etc.
Emergency
planning
Emergency
management
Disaster
sociology and
psychology
Public information
management
Recovery and
reconstruction
planning
Methods of
risk mitigation
Field
exercises
Disaster and emergency
management training

39. HAZARD,
RISK &
DISASTER
STUDIES
SEVEN SCHOOLS
OF THOUGHT
Criminal justice
and forensic
science
and perhaps
an eighth...
Sociology
Psychology
& psychiatry
Economic &
financial studies
Development
studies
Disaster medicine
& epidemiology
Physical &
construction
sciences
Geography &
anthropology:
cultural (human)
anthropology

40. Ecology
Geology
(& Geomorphology)
Geophysics
(inc. Seismology)
Volcanology
Climatology
Hydraulics
Hydrology
Meteorology
Architecture
Civil engineering
Geotechnical engineering
Structural engineering
Mechanical &
electrical engineeringInformation &
communication
technology (ICT)
Computer technology
Remote sensing
Risk analysis (inc.
risk identification,
estimation,
management &
communication)
Cartography
Development studies
Economics
Geography, History
Jurisprudence & legal stds
Urban & regional planning
Mass media studies
Psychology
Sociology
Epidemiology
Nursing
Nutrition
Pharmacology
General medicine
Surgery &
emergency medicine
Public health, hygiene
& epidemiology
Veterinary sciences
Health sciences
Social & spatial sciences
Computational
& analytical
sciences
Construction sciences
Atmospheric & water sciences
Earth & environmental sciences
HAZARD,
RISK &
DISASTER
CONSTITUENT
DISCIPLINES

41. Broad professional training
in emergency management
Professional experience
and training
Disciplinary training
(e.g. bachelor's degree)
Common
culture
Common
language
Common
objectives

42. Practitioners
Emergency services
Emergency management
agencies
Volunteer NGOs
Researchers
Academics
Consultants
Users
The general public
Businesses
Three
constituencies

43. survivors and
beneficiaries
emergency managers
and responders
policy makers and
emergency planners
international
dimension
marginalised
groups
domestic
dimension
tourists and visitors
THE
TRANSLATOR

44. The international
dimension

45. The international relief system
PUBLIC AND
CORPORATE
DONORS
INTERNATIONAL
NGOs
DONOR COUNTRY
GOVT. AGENCIES
RECIPIENT COUNTRY
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
RECIPIENT COUNTRY
DONORS
LOCAL
NGOs
AFFECTED POPULATION AND VICTIMS
UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES
UN Office for the Co-ordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA)
UN Disaster Assistance Team (UNDAC)
International SAR Advisory Group (INSARAG)
UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
World Food Programme (WFP)
Other UN Agencies
RAPID RESPONSE TEAMS
International SAR teams
Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs)
RED CROSS-RED CRESCENT
International Committee of the RC (ICRC)
International Federation of RC Socs. (IFRC)
National societies - donor countries
National societies - recipient countries

46. UN Resident Co-ordinator (UN-RC)
UN Humanitarian Aid Co-ordinator (UN-HC)
Emergency Response Co-ordinator (UN-ERC)
(Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs)
Permanent Interagency Support Committee (UN-IASC)
[UN humanitarian agencies; UNHCR,
Red Cross, World Bank, various NGOs]
Civil-Military Humanitarian Co-ordination (UN-CMCoord)
Department of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-DHA)
Office for the Co-ordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA)
In the assisted country:-

47. War and
conflict
Poverty
Natural
disasters
Insecurity
Vulnerability and
marginalisation
Military
Humanitarian assistance
assistance
The "Military Cross"

48. What falls out
of the sky?
Cluster bombs
Humanitarian rations

49. Justice Impartiality
Humanitarianism
Hijacking of
assistance
Relief
Robbery
and rape
of victims
Total
war
Politicisation of
relief suppies
What
future?

50. Justice system
Rights Responsibilities
Moral
Ethical
Legal
Constitution
Disaster
Context of
disaster

51. welfare mobility
sovereignty identity
entitlement
proxy
wars
?

52. • prevalence of myths and misassumptions
• migration and evacuation
• informal settlements
• precarious livelihoods
• crises of leadership.
Some parallels between disaster risk
reduction (DRR) and human mobility

53. Xenophobia
Distrust of
unfamiliar
people
Compassion
Desire
to help
refugees
Rejectionism
It is not
our problem
Distancing
Not in my
back yard
The role of mass cognitive dissonance
Charity
Willingness
to donate

54. Conclusions

55. • disaster response is increasingly
internationalised, with up to
130 countries participating
• interoperability is vital: civil
protection needs a common culture
• beware of the clash between top-down
and bottom-up approaches in
civil defence and civil protection.
Take-away messages

56. • culture is facilitator or inhibitor of DRR:
initiatives must be culturally compatible
• minorities should not be neglected
and marginalised (especially in
human mobility and conflict situations)
• suppression of democracy, human rights
and people's cultures must be opposed.
Take-away messages

57. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
david.alexander@ucl.ac.uk
www.slideshare.net/dealexander