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Dark side of development : Modernity, disaster risk and sustainable livelihoods in two coastal communities in Fiji

Becker, Per LU orcid (2017) In Sustainability (Switzerland) 9(12).
Abstract

The world is changing rapidly, as are the remotest rural communities. Modernity is spreading across the world under the guise of development and it is transforming disaster risk. This raises issues concerning how disaster risk is changing in such milieus. Using a sustainable livelihood approach, this article investigates access to different types of capital that central to the vulnerability of two coastal communities in Fiji that are affected by modernity to different extents. This comparative case study is based on semi-structured interviews, focus groups and observation. The results indicate that modernity transforms access to and use of key capitals (natural, physical, financial, human, and social capital) on both community and... (More)

The world is changing rapidly, as are the remotest rural communities. Modernity is spreading across the world under the guise of development and it is transforming disaster risk. This raises issues concerning how disaster risk is changing in such milieus. Using a sustainable livelihood approach, this article investigates access to different types of capital that central to the vulnerability of two coastal communities in Fiji that are affected by modernity to different extents. This comparative case study is based on semi-structured interviews, focus groups and observation. The results indicate that modernity transforms access to and use of key capitals (natural, physical, financial, human, and social capital) on both community and household levels, increasing dependence on external resources that are unequally distributed, while undermining social cohesion and support. Although disaster risk might be of a similar magnitude across the board at the community level, modernity transforms vulnerability significantly and skews the distribution of disaster risk, to the detriment of the households left behind by development.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Development, Disaster risk, Fiji, Modernity, Sustainable livelihood
in
Sustainability (Switzerland)
volume
9
issue
12
article number
2315
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85038001664
  • wos:000419231500161
ISSN
2071-1050
DOI
10.3390/su9122315
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f2dff804-7ef7-43db-a96c-3dfd329f8a4b
date added to LUP
2018-01-03 12:20:54
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:45:56
@article{f2dff804-7ef7-43db-a96c-3dfd329f8a4b,
  abstract     = {{<p>The world is changing rapidly, as are the remotest rural communities. Modernity is spreading across the world under the guise of development and it is transforming disaster risk. This raises issues concerning how disaster risk is changing in such milieus. Using a sustainable livelihood approach, this article investigates access to different types of capital that central to the vulnerability of two coastal communities in Fiji that are affected by modernity to different extents. This comparative case study is based on semi-structured interviews, focus groups and observation. The results indicate that modernity transforms access to and use of key capitals (natural, physical, financial, human, and social capital) on both community and household levels, increasing dependence on external resources that are unequally distributed, while undermining social cohesion and support. Although disaster risk might be of a similar magnitude across the board at the community level, modernity transforms vulnerability significantly and skews the distribution of disaster risk, to the detriment of the households left behind by development.</p>}},
  author       = {{Becker, Per}},
  issn         = {{2071-1050}},
  keywords     = {{Development; Disaster risk; Fiji; Modernity; Sustainable livelihood}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{12}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Sustainability (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{Dark side of development : Modernity, disaster risk and sustainable livelihoods in two coastal communities in Fiji}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su9122315}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/su9122315}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}