Difference in Vulnerability and the Reproduction of Inequality Among Flood Victims: An Ethnography of the Life Events of Chamshir Flood Survivors in 2019

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Author

Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Mazanderan, Mazanderan, Iran.

10.22059/jrd.2025.385828.668885

Abstract

Natural disasters such as floods not only destroy the physical infrastructure and livelihoods of local communities but also have extensive social and psychological repercussions for both individuals and groups.
This paper employs ethnographic methods to investigate and analyze the lives of individuals who have been impacted by the floods in the Chamshir region of Ilam.
The results indicate that the heterogeneity of impact and the effects of the crisis on social cohesion are key dimensions in understanding these disasters. These dimensions include the crisis of institutional trust and the lack of social capital, social suffering and collective mourning, structural vulnerability and the reproduction of inequality, psychological consequences ranging from existential insecurity to situational anxiety, psychological homelessness and social identity crisis, and the heterogeneity of impact and the effects of the crisis on social cohesion.
The results of this study indicate that inadequate and inconsistent communication, past experiences, and the poor performance of responsible institutions during the crisis, as well as the provision of insufficient supportive services, have led to a crisis of institutional trust and exacerbated the heterogeneity of impact among social groups. In this context, the destructive consequences have disproportionately impacted impoverished and vulnerable groups, thereby perpetuating social inequality. On the other hand, despite the fragility of social capital, collective mourning and social solidarity have served as mechanisms for managing the crisis. Through the presentation of a theoretical anthropology, this study investigates the formation of psychological homelessness and the crisis of social identity in affected communities. It also examines the role of social capital and institutional trust in either facilitating or complicating the process of social reconstruction.

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References

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