Responding to Socio-environmental Disasters in High-Intensity Conflict Scenarios: Challenges and Legitimation Strategies

This chapter reviews the process of responding to socio-environmental disasters in places affected by high-intensity levels of conflict, and explores the essential features and challenges that this type of conflict poses for disaster response. Using the notions of humanitarian arena, legitimacy, and power relationships, the chapter presents the different strategies that aid and society actors (those for whom humanitarian aid action is part of their core function and those for whom is not) use to respond in these complex settings, contributing to the study of the nexus between social conflicts and socio-environmental disasters such as earthquakes, droughts, or hurricanes. This chapter makes an original contribution to the disaster response literature by reflecting on the utility of using high-intensity conflict scenarios as an analytical category, to inform better policies and practices on disaster response in these specific types of conflict.