Abstract
Disasters are a growing international concern that has spurred the development of political strategies and policies from international to local levels. This paper analyzes how disasters are constructed as a policy problem within the UN global strategy for disaster risk reduction. Building on a social constructivist view of policy problems, we analyze how disasters and disaster risks are being represented through these global policies, while we also pay attention to what this representation excludes and de‐emphasizes. We show that the UN strategy is mostly concerned with adjusting or adapting societies to hazards, and managing risks, rather than addressing the social processes that render people vulnerable to those hazards. The predominant concern with technological and managerial solutions eclipses the need for changes in the social structures that create disaster risks. We argue that the understanding of disasters represented in the UN strategy supports an emerging holistic paradigm. However, we also argue that the holism it represents is limited rather than radical. By making visible what is excluded or not properly problematized in this representation, we point to the complexity of the task and show where its limitations lie.
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