Abstract

This chapter deals with how people of different ethnicity, caste and religious affiliation face the risk of, cope with and recover from disasters. Typical questions this chapter asks are why Indian lower castes continue to lack access to basic resources to face natural hazards in spite of the country’s significant progress in reducing the risk of disasters. Why were the black communities of Miami more severely impacted by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 than their white neighbours? To answer such questions, the chapter links up marginality and prejudice with the concepts of ethnicity, caste and religious affiliation, and with access to resources, capacity and vulnerability.