Vulnerability Theory Research Articles

Conceptualization of Flooding Disaster: A Theoretical Perspective of Management

Globally, flooding is a common natural disaster affecting individuals and communities by causing substantial loss of individual properties, public infrastructure, physical environment and even threaten human lives. It is often triggered by the factors like heavy rainfall, storms, hurricanes, flash floods which brings devastating consequences for the affected peoples worldwide including displacement of people, loss of life, health issues and financial losses. During 1995-2015, it affected nearly 2.3 billion people and was responsible for 157,000 deaths globally. Therefore, it requires a strong disaster response framework to mitigating its short and long-term impacts. This response framework should be based on risk assessment, response strategies and building disaster resilience to reduce the people’s overall vulnerability to flooding disasters. The current study aims to conceptualize the flooding disaster through the social vulnerability theory, risk society theory and adaptive governance theory so that policymakers and governments can develop a deeper understanding of the complex factors that contribute to flooding disasters and prepare effective strategies to tackle the disaster effectively. This may include implementing effective preparedness and response measures such as early warning systems, emergency evacuation plans and adequate infrastructure which can help mitigate the risks and subsequent impacts of flooding on individuals and communities.

Precarity and Resilience in Kavery Nambisan’s <i>The Story That Must Not be Told </i>

In the wake of rising precarity, the pressing question that confronts thinkers is how to formulate a new form of a social contract that recognises, legitmises, and promotes systems of social infrastructures. By focussing on Kavery Nambisan’s The Story That Must Note Be Told (2010), this article highlights the precarious class of people living in a slum area. The crux of Nambisan’s account is that few lives matter more than other lives, and few spaces need more supply of resources than others, and the task of government and corporate agencies is to render agential measures to the elite class. It is a precarious tale of a place where the vulnerability and death of the marginalised feed off the privileged class. In the light of the precarious conditions rendered by the neoliberal regime, this article analyses Martha Albertson Fineman’s theory of human vulnerability, underlining the urgency to recognise human dependency on social institutions inherently linked to their resilience and survival.

To Examine the Underpinning Factors Responsible for Child Streetism in Dar Es Salaam and Dodoma Cities, Tanzania

Purpose: This paper examines the underpinning factors responsible for child streetism in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma cities, Tanzania.
 Methodology: The study employed a qualitative method. Instruments for data collection included participants’ interviews, key informant interviews, and document review. The adopted research paradigm was the interpretivism research paradigm. This paradigm was chosen on the basis that the study wanted to have in-depth information on the influence of income poverty and family development on child streetism adopting the qualitative nature of the research. The adopted research approach was the inductive research approach because of the qualitative nature of the study. The population consisted of street children living on the streets of Dodoma and Dar es Salaam cities in Tanzania while the study sample size included 38 street children and 18 key informants.
 Findings: The findings revealed that income, poverty, and Lack of family capacity to meet children’s basic needs such as food, shelter, clothes, education, and health needs were the main causes of child streetism. The study findings are also supported by the vulnerability theory. The theory shows how vulnerable environments including poverty may lead to certain social consequences. According to this theory, children’s vulnerability is explained in different ways including being victims of hunger and homelessness, which is considered an identity of a vulnerable population.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Vulnerability theory recognizes that the human experience of constant vulnerability varies as a result of stages in the life course, social institutions, and law, which often trace intersecting forms of oppression on the basis of race, gender, sexuality, disability, and class. Vulnerability thus provides a heuristic device for exposing the structural privilege and disadvantage enveloped in these relationships and suggests ways to readjust them in order to advance social justice and lessen inequality. It is recommended that the Regional Administrations and Local Government Authorities in collaboration with other stakeholders establish a special campaign to enroll street children into the education system and facilitate family reunification

Vulnerability Theory as a Paradigm Shift in International Investment Law: Reimagining the Role of the State

Abstract This article argues for a fundamental raison d’être reconceptualization of international investment law (IIL) through Martha Fineman’s ‘vulnerability theory’. The theory helps identify the structural sources of IIL’s shortcomings, whilst philosophically challenging the one-sided view that foreign investors are entitled to protections, but are free from obligations vis-à-vis the communities affected by their undertakings. Emphasizing the productive power of the state to take positive action that acknowledges ordinary citizens’ embeddedness within, and dependence upon, surrounding structures, the vulnerability theory challenges the hegemonic perception of the state as a source of danger – a view which has hitherto undermined both the potency and the enforceability of investor obligations. Used as a heuristic device in studying both IIL’s existing structures and the potential avenues for reimagining it, Fineman’s theory not only shines a novel light on the foundational premises of IIL, but also grants theoretical traction to existing ideas about improving the system.

Resilience-building in Adversarial Trials: Witnesses, Special Measures and the Principle of Orality

Using Fineman's vulnerability theory, this paper argues that the traditional adversarial approach to examining witnesses in criminal trials – premised on the principle of orality – reduces the resilience of those giving evidence. This is because the adversarial setting often leaves those testifying in a heightened state of stress, reducing the quality and reliability of their evidence as a result. In turn, this traditional approach to securing oral witness testimony in criminal trials loses resilience, in that it becomes more difficult to justify as the general approach. The use of special measures – to adjust the way testimony is given and ameliorate some of the associated stressors – provides resilience to the individual testifying, the robustness of their evidence, and the safety of consequent criminal verdicts. The positive effects special measures yield therefore lend additional resilience to our commitment to the principle of orality and the principles upon which it rests. This article concludes that the State should maximise such resilience-building through more generous special measures provision.

Designing dynamic groundwater management strategies through a composite groundwater vulnerability model: Integrating human-related parameters into the DRASTIC model using LightGBM regression and SHAP analysis

Groundwater nitrate contamination has emerged as a pressing global concern. Given its potential for long-term impacts on aquifers, protective measures should primarily focus on prevention. Drawing on the theory of groundwater vulnerability (GV), the original DRASTIC model and parameters related to human activities are employed as inputs and integrated with the LightGBM regression algorithm to facilitate nitrate index (NI) prediction tasks. The SHAP analysis is conducted to effectively examine the contribution of parameters to the NI prediction and interpret the issue of parameter interactions. In addition, to mitigate the limitations of the intrinsic GV model, a composite nitrate index (CNI) is developed by linearly combining the DRASTIC index with the NI. The framework presented in this study provides adaptive strategies for managing groundwater resources over different time periods. A representative region for arid and semiarid climates, the Yinchuan region, is studied using the framework. As compared to 2012, the intrinsic GV index has changed spatially in 2022. Human activities have increased the influence of the nitrate concentration as shown by the Pearson correlation coefficient of −0.082 between the DRASTIC index and nitrate concentration. A significant increase in pollution levels was predicted by NI, ranging from −0.116 to 0.968. According to SHAP analysis, the significant increase in NI levels in 2022 was mainly due to high-value industrial and agricultural production. In 2022, 12.02% of the areas had an increase of at least 0.549 in the CNI. 42.1% of the areas were classified as moderate or high CNI levels. The farm was identified as a high-contributing source to nitrate pollution. The small-scale agricultural and livestock activities in non-urban areas also contribute to groundwater pollution. Dynamic groundwater management strategies need to be implemented in high-growth and high-level CNI areas.

Stemming the tide: Does climate risk affect M&A performance?

AbstractWe examine the effect of climate change risks (CCR) on firms' decision of engaging in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and M&A performance. In this study we use the responses by firms on ‘climate change‐related risks and opportunities’ of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) survey and 1372 deals of US listed firms during 2010–2020. Consistent with risk vulnerability theory, our evidence indicates that firms with higher CCR have a lower probability of engaging in M&As. After controlling for possible endogeneity, our results also indicate that if acquirers with higher climate change risks choose to engage in M&A, it significantly reduces the announcement returns. These findings suggest that extant measures of climate change risks should be rethought when evaluating M&A efficiency. More broadly, our paper provides causal evidence that managers need to integrate CCR into their formal risk management systems to avoid unsuccessful M&As.

An emotionally vulnerable profession? professional values and emotions within legal practice

ABSTRACT Applying Fineman’s vulnerability theory, this paper will explore the role of emotions within the legal profession and the specific vulnerabilities that arise from their traditional and contemporary treatment within law. It will consider how the notion of professionalism in law has traditionally disregarded or excluded emotions as irrelevant or even dangerous in a manner which is philosophically and psychologically flawed as well as damaging to mental health and wellbeing. This approach has created longstanding unacknowledged vulnerabilities for the profession as a whole and individual practitioners. It will then explore how the shifting legal services landscape, and the resultant evolution of the profession, has led to a growing contemporary interest in the use of emotional competencies (often characterised as ‘soft skills’ or ‘emotional intelligence’). These are now increasingly exploited as tools to enhance profitability. However, this leads to a dichotomy as, despite their increasing utilisation, emotions are still not fully acknowledged or incorporated within law’s core professional values. This generates further individual and institutional vulnerabilities around mental health and wellbeing which require urgent attention to ensure the health of the contemporary profession. The paper concludes with suggestions for reforms to alleviate these vulnerabilities and promote greater future resilience within law.

‘CHERISH’ OR PERISH: THE INEVITABLE OUTCOME OF AN ECONOMY IN CRISIS

We used an integrative qualitative descriptive review methodology to survey the literature on the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how the pandemic devastated businesses as well as emphasise the benefit of understanding the possible opportunities that emerge from a crisis. The discussions are framed within the purview of resilience and vulnerability theory, including the resource-based view. Findings indicate that as a result of the sudden emergence of COVID-19, many businesses' unpreparedness and untested resilience capabilities led to their demise, with others downsizing or ceasing operations. COVID-19 required businesses to adopt a speedy adaptation of business practices, thinking, and processes to capitalise on emerging opportunities. Thus, businesses adopted e-commerce, virtual operations, and the development of new channels. Overall, the study concludes that businesses confronted a mixed bag of COVID-19 consequences. The study, therefore, recommends that developing nations' governments institute radical economic transformation efforts to secure the business ecosystem and overcome business turnaround challenges. Moreover, studies that track the improved fortunes of firms that downscaled during the pandemic in the post-COVID-19 era are recommended. The study's major limitation is that most of the literature reviewed is set in Africa, which may limit the applicability of the findings to other regions. However, the COVID-19 theme retains global relevance. The study contributes to the literature by providing insights into the specific impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on businesses, the importance of resilience mechanisms, the role of government support, and the need for entrepreneurship education in the post-pandemic era.

Perceived Vulnerability of Beach Tourism to Climate Change in Olongapo, Subic, and San Antonio, Zambales

Climate change is not solely a problem of developing countries or tropical countries but is of global concern and its impacts are observed worldwide. Tourism is one of the top industries in many countries, with coastal tourism as the largest form. The Philippines, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia, is home to numerous islands and beaches and therefore capitalizes on the blue economy. However, the Philippines is also the third most vulnerable country globally. This study used the vulnerability theory framework to assess the climate change affecting beach tourism in Zambales, Philippines. Climatic factors considered were increased temperature, strong typhoons, floods, and sea level rise. In the related studies presented in this research, some countries’ and regions’ climatic situations, environmental conditions, and adaptation efforts were conveyed. The reviewed research papers gave numerous insights and best practices done by other countries, which can serve as the benchmark in the development of adaptation measures for beach tourism in the Philippines. In this research, descriptive research in quantitative and qualitative methods are employed. The stakeholders within Zambales were surveyed to assess the destination’s beach tourism vulnerability and condition. Respondents perceived beach tourism to be vulnerable to climate change, and adaptation measures were proposed to address the challenges to beach tourism in Zambales. Keywords: climate change, beach tourism, Vulnerability Theory, Philippines, mixed method research

Disasters and social vulnerability determinants of federal subsidiarity assistance

AbstractSubsidiarity assistance creates opportunities for the federal government to intervene in subnational affairs, supplement emergency response, and reduce jurisdictional vulnerabilities. Recognizing the differential effects that disaster events and revenue sharing could have on states, the research investigates the determinants of federal subsidiarity assistance grants to states in the context of American federalism. This study draws from disaster impact scholarship and social vulnerability theory for theoretical context to understand the determinants of short‐term and long‐term public assistance grants and intergovernmental transfers, which constitute federal subsidiarity assistance to subnational governments. Using panel data on 50 U.S. states over a 17‐year time period, findings show that disasters trigger federal subsidiarity assistance for disaster‐induced short‐term and long‐term public assistance grants; however, social vulnerability more likely explains intergovernmental transfers to states.

Rethinking Effective Remedies to the Climate Crisis: a Vulnerability Theory Approach

Although the harmful effects of climate change on human rights are well-recognized, the legal response to the climate crisis has been inadequate. This is particularly problematic as the crisis disproportionately affects vulnerable groups, which is exacerbated by a lack of effective remedies in contesting the adverse effects of climate change. The article argues that vulnerability theory offers a persuasive framing for rethinking what kind of remedies can be considered effective in the context of the climate crisis. A vulnerability theory approach shows how vulnerability increased by the climate crisis is universal but differentially distributed. Effective remedies are an essential part of responding to this vulnerability. The article suggests that characteristics of an effective remedy include the ability to contest breaches of positive obligations, speediness, the ability to contest future harms, the ability to contest breaches of extraterritorial obligations, bindingness, and equality of standing.

Rethinking Vulnerability as a Radically Ethical Device: Ethical Vulnerability Analysis and the EU’s “Migration Crisis”

We reinvigorate vulnerability theory as a radically ethical device — ethical vulnerability analysis. We bring together fuller vulnerability analysis as theorized by Fineman and Grear in conversation with Levinas and Derrida’s radical vulnerability and the ethics of hospitality to construct a theoretical framework that is firmly anchored in the realities of the everyday that are vulnerability and migration. This novel framework offers a thinking space to subvert approaches to migrants and migration as it compels us to come face-to face with the “other”, which in turn renders the political accountable by her.We deploy ethical vulnerability analysis to deconstruct the EU’s “migration crisis” and investigate whether the activation of temporary protection for displaced persons from Ukraine signifies a humanizing turn in the EU’s asylum and migration policies. In this regard, we submit that this hospitable moment constitutes an “exception to the rule” rather than a paradigm shift.

Systemic vulnerability: Towards a theoretical framework for identifying institutional failures that violate rights

Since the return to democracy in Chile in 1990, public policies for institutionalized children have progressively adopted the theory of vulnerability, with disastrous results. To expose the violence implied in the vulnerability theory, the article proposes a framework composed of the concept of epistemological violence, the theory of recognition, and the feminist psychological theory of institutional trauma to analyze and interpret public policies for children. This theoretical approach allows us to unveil how the institutional use of vulnerability has become a standardized and naturalized mechanism of violence that (re)produces the trauma the public policies seek to interrupt. In this way, we make visible a chain of failures that provoke severe traumas that drastically reduce their capacity for agency and future opportunities, especially in institutionalized girls and adolescents. The theoretical proposal contributes to future research about social politics, systems, and programs of childhood protection based on rights. We conclude by identifying some limitations and theoretical challenges.

Reframing Home and Making Oddkins through Posthuman Feminism

Historical factors have led traditional feminists to oppose the concept of home as being privileged. However, this paper finds rejection of home can lead to a crisis of ontological displacement and disorientated identity. As such, this paper wishes to remodel the idea of home rather than distance oneself from it. To do so, inspired by post-human feminism, this paper advocates an imagination of a home constituted of horizontally linked Oddkins, assembled and pieced together from heterogeneity. Furthermore, this paper believes that vulnerability theory provides a way to break through the closed subjects, enabling the subject to empathize with the Others horizontally and connect with Others and build an odd-kinship. The main purpose of this paper is to reframe the scope of both family and ethical accountability and thereby liberate the one oppressed or colonized by the traditional conception of home.

From labelling weakness to liberatory praxis: a new theory of vulnerability for disaster studies

PurposeVulnerability is a label and a concept that is widely used in disaster studies. To date the meaning has been quite limited and implied “weakness”, with criticisms arising periodically but not halting vulnerability's reproduction. In this paper, the authors offer a new theory of vulnerability for the field, suggesting that complicating the concept can create space for liberatory discourse and organising.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw from diverse understandings of vulnerability to generate new conceptual ground for disaster scholars. The authors explore the relationships between power and agency and autonomy and social hierarchy with regards to how vulnerability is considered within neoliberal democracies. The authors also outline ideological responses and the political actions that follow.FindingsThis exploration is underpinned by dissatisfaction with the way that vulnerability has thus far been theorised in disaster studies. Using the analytical framings provided, the authors hope that others will build on the idea that so-called “vulnerable” people, working in solidarity and using intersecting frameworks of anti-racism, anti-colonialism and anti-capitalism, can undermine the risk-creating norms of the neoliberal state.Originality/valueThe authors argue that the dominant framing of vulnerability in disaster studies – and usage of the vulnerability paradigm – provides political traction for neoliberal social projects, based on notions of humanitarianism. The authors make this claim as a challenge to the authors and the authors' peers to maintain reflexive scholarship and search for liberatory potential, not only in vulnerability but in other concepts that have become normative.

Study on seismic vulnerability analysis of the interaction system between saturated soft soil and subway station structures

The seismic vulnerability of interaction system of saturated soft soil and subway station structures was explored in this paper. The coupled nonlinear numerical models of interaction system were established using the u–p formulation of Biot′s theory to describe the saturated two-phase media. A refined finite element model of interaction system was developed to study its nonlinear seismic responses and seismic hazard mechanism. In this study, the multi-yield elastoplastic constitutive model was adopted for the soil, while a fiber section elastoplastic constitutive model was used for the structure. The seismic response of the structure was calculated by inputting the artificial seismic wave obtained from the power spectrum-triangular series method. The maximum inter-story drift angle was taken as a structural performance parameter for the subway station structure. The structural demand cloud was obtained under random ground motion sequences. Based on the probabilistic seismic demand model analysis method, the seismic vulnerability curve of the subway station structure was plotted, and the seismic vulnerability curve was analyzed as per the vulnerability of performance parameters. With the increase of soil strength, the vulnerability index of subway station structure under different peak acceleration ground motion decreased correspondingly. Based on the above vulnerability theory and analysis methods, it can be found from the above vulnerability theory and analysis methods that the subway station structure with established buried depth in saturated soft soil site exhibits a certain degree of safety and reliability, and can meet the seismic fortification goal of "no damage in small earthquakes, repairable in medium earthquakes and no collapse in large earthquakes". The results of vulnerability analysis are in line with the actual seismic survey, and the vulnerability analysis method proposed in this paper can be applied to the vulnerability analysis of underground structures on saturated soft soil foundation.

Investigating the effectiveness of livelihood capital in reducing re-poverty risk: an empirical analysis of policy withdrawal and income structures in rural China

In the context of China’s comprehensive poverty alleviation efforts, this study explores the differences in the re-poverty risk between households that have been lifted out of poverty before and after policy withdrawal, as well as the sensitivity of different family types to their livelihood capital. The study used data from 45,141 out-of-poverty households in Yucheng County, Henan Province, from 2016 to 2020, and combined the poverty vulnerability theory and short-fall risk method to evaluate the re-poverty risk. The Tobit model was used to explore the influence of livelihood capital on the re-poverty risk. The study found that the overall re-poverty risk is 1.13%, which increases to 18.09% after direct poverty alleviation policy is withdrawn. The risk of working families is significantly lower than farming families. All kinds of livelihood capital significantly reduce the re-poverty risk, with natural capital playing the most significant role. For different family types, the marginal contribution of financial capital to reducing the re-poverty risk is relatively larger in working households, while that of natural capital is larger in farming households. Specifically, labor capacity, arable land area, local leaders, and loans have a more significant inhibitory effect on the re-poverty risk. These findings provide valuable insights for formulating policies related to increasing household income and preventing the occurrence of re-poverty.

Squatting and the State: Resilient Property in an Age of Crisis

In Squatting and the State, Lorna Fox O'Mahony and Marc L. Roark propose a new theory to analyse how states approach the issue of homeless people squatting on land. Their approach is called Resilient Property and draws upon the different conceptual frameworks of ‘wicked problems’ (based on Ritterl and Webber), sustainability theory, fiduciary theory (citing Underkuffler), actor-network theory (engaging with the work of Law), and vulnerability theory (referencing Fineman). The authors take squatting as their topic because it motivates passionate legal discussions over both possession and ownership. Squatting is indeed a wicked problem for analysis since it defies easy categorization and in contesting what private property means, and serves to question the way in which global society functions under capitalism. The authors write that ‘our aim is to better understand how domestic institutions, norms, and narratives in each of these jurisdictions have shaped the nomos within which “the state” acts in response to homeless squatting on empty land’ (p. 25). However, the resulting theory is rather opaque and is only explained in full in Chapter 5. It would have been helpful to have it sketched out earlier in the book, for example in the Introduction.

Young women’s sexual agency, relationality, and vulnerability: The Israeli case study of “attacking”

The sexual agency of young women is constructed within various discourses that articulate multiple and conflicting social imperatives, such that they need to account for their sexual and social vulnerability while expressing their sexuality. This paper uses a common Israeli heteronormative youth practice called “attacking” to analyze young women’s sexual agency. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 39 young women aged 18–23, it explores how young women express their sexual agency while managing their vulnerability. Analyzed using a theory of vulnerability, our findings point to unique forms of relational agency that support young women’s subjective sexual expressions. The findings highlight the duality and ambiguities that young women face in spaces of “attacking,” showing how their agency is supported relationally by emerging alliances based on joint vulnerability. Based on these findings, this paper challenges the dichotomy between social forces and agency and establishes a conceptualization of relational agency with regard to young women’s sexuality.