Intersectionality, gender, and project-induced displacement in the informal city: The struggle over stormwater development in Los Platanitos, Dominican Republic

Abstract

Despite the inclusion of gender assessments in climate action and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) projects, gender is often conceptualized in dichotomous ways based on a poor understanding of situated realities and informal water related practices, leading to disempowering redevelopment strategies that replicate traditional gender roles. An intersectional approach allows for more nuanced analysis of the ways in which multiple identities, social roles, and economic, racial, and other markers of difference influence vulnerability, thus providing a better understanding of situated gender relations and the role of community-based organizations in shaping recovery capacities. A case study of a stormwater development project in Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, illustrates how social impacts of project-induced displacement are both spatialized and contingent on situated markers of difference, including gender. Women experienced a range of consequences and emotional responses to the project depending on age, marital and property rights status, and location of their demolished homes within the community. These impacts were mitigated by the efforts of the women-led community-based organization Mujeres Unidas to pressure state agencies to provide housing for displaced families and more genuine community representation in the project planning process.