Towards a critical geography of resettlement

Rogers, Sarah; Wilmsen, Brooke

doi:10.1177/0309132518824659

Cited by 84 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 122 publications

(138 reference statements)

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“…Such literature has been collectively labelled “reformist‐managerialist” (Dwivedi, 2002, 712) owing to its focus on the inadequacies and failures of resettlement and “effective ways of designing and handling resettlement for which appropriate legal, managerial and policy frameworks are sought.” More recently, that literature has been termed “mainstream” to reflect its continued dominance in resettlement research, policy, and practice (Rogers & Wilmsen, 2019, 1).…”

Section: Revisiting the Resettlement Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…On one side are managerialists, mostly applied academics and practitioners (many of whom are both) who are convinced there is a solution to resettlement failure. On the other side are those contributing to critical resettlement scholarship (Rogers & Wilmsen, 2019). Generally, these are academics from political ecology/economy, human geography, sociology, and related disciplines.…”

Section: Revisiting the Resettlement Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…To appear in control, resettlement planners cajole and pressure communities so their members behave in ways that allow large‐scale developments to progress: In Foucauldian terms, this is “direct conduct along a set of approved pathways” (Murray Li, 2011, 57). A precarity frame encourages consideration of resettlement as a technology of government, a tactic used to shape the conduct of marginalised groups (Rogers & Wilmsen, 2019).…”

Section: The Analytical Value Of Precaritymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Precarious resettlement at the Bui Dam, Ghana—Unmaking the teleological

Wilmsen

Adjartey

2020

Geographical Research

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One of the key challenges of constructing large‐scale water projects is determining how to manage social impacts such as the forced displacement and resettlement of the people in their path. Resettlement planners are tasked with the unenviable job of predicting these impacts and minimising their effects to enable the smooth completion of construction. The complexity of resettlement is reduced to a technical exercise carried out in accordance with international standards of best practice used by multilateral development banks and with the laws of national governments. Despite both the proliferation of these standards and legislation and the expansion of the resettlement industry, empirical research continues to demonstrate that resettlement causes impoverishment. Based on a qualitative study of three resettled villages at the Bui Dam resettlement in Ghana, this article highlights the political nature of resettlement. Using the concept of “precarity” we demonstrate how politics acts to render people moveable long before a project is conceived. Resettlement is shown to be a political tool that exposes and exacerbates existing precarity and becomes a site of struggle against the power of the state. By framing resettlement as an expression of politics rather than an exercise in management and containment, this article begins to uncover the flaws in technical planning processes and is a reminder that resettlement should be avoided wherever possible.

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Section: Revisiting the Resettlement Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Revisiting the Resettlement Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Analytical Value Of Precaritymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Precarious resettlement at the Bui Dam, Ghana—Unmaking the teleological

Wilmsen

Adjartey

2020

Geographical Research

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“…Previous work on post-disaster reconstruction, resettlement, and recovery generally adopts either a 'state planning' or a political-economic approach (Rogers and Wilmsen, 2019). The former focuses more on the organisational and administrative aspects of government policies and programmes to recuperate the physical losses of devastated communities (see, for example, Badri et al, 2006;Samuels, 2012), whereas the latter utilises critical perspectives to investigate the affective, eco-political, and cultural processes that underpin local and global disaster economies (see, for example, Ong and Curato, 2015;Arroyo and Åstrand, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unpacking the post‐Haiyan disaster resettlement narratives of young Filipino women informal settlers in Tacloban City, Philippines

Espina

Canoy

2020

Disasters

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Post-disaster resettlement narratives encapsulate the complex mobile-spatial processes that are embedded in a post-disaster context. The existing literature on disaster relocation and resettlement accords primacy to the logistical, practical, structural, and physical dimensions of residential transitioning. Building on this knowledge, this study conducted a spatial narrative inquiry to generate a link to mobile-spatial realities interspersed in diverse temporal trajectories. It did so by tracking the embodied rhythms of people and objects evoked through the retelling of postdisaster resettlement stories by 12 young Filipino women informal settlers. The key findings are organised in three spatial narratives: 'house near the sea'; 'there at the bunkhouse'; and 'here in Ridgeview'. These narratives are anchored in the overarching dimensions that underpin Filipino informal settlers' experiences of (not) moving in and out of disaster resettlement areas. Lastly, the findings are explained in the light of the theoretical, empirical, and practical implications of disaster resettlement specific to informal settlers.

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“…The emphasis placed on policy gaps as a proximate cause of impoverishment is based on the assumption that 'strongly' crafted policy frameworks, when implemented well, will protect displaced people against harm, and in the best scenario, mandate developers to plan and allocate adequate resources towards resettlement (see Clark, 2009). As Rogers and Wilmsen (2019;p.4) argue, there is an "assumption that resettlement can be controlled by planners to achieve favourable and relatively predictable outcomes".…”

Section: Planning and Inherent Complexity In Development Induced Dispmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing household livelihood needs in mining-induced displacement and resettlement: a case study from Ghana

Adam¹

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Development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) is a significant socioeconomic problem. Recent estimates suggest that approximately 20 million people are displaced every year to make way for the construction and operation of large-scale development projects, such as dams and mining. More than forty years of scholarship show that people displaced by these projects often experience worse levels of poverty and, in the majority of cases, struggle to recover from this impoverishment. International finance institutions have attempted to address project-induced impoverishment by putting forward resettlement policy frameworks and guidelines. These policy measures have been complemented by scholarly models for planning and implementing resettlement that aim to prevent impoverishment. However, despite numerous policies, impoverishment remains a predominant outcome in most displacement settings. This thesis focuses on mining-induced displacement and resettlement (MIDR). It engages scholarly works and literature on displacement and sustainable livelihoods and argues that continuing widespread impoverishment-in the face of 'improved' resettlement policy and practiceis a result of inadequate engagement with the human scale dimensions of household livelihood development. The thesis is based on an ethnographic case study from Ghana and examines a resettlement exercise as it occurred at the Akyem gold mine project. Based on constructivist perspectives, it uses a combined conceptual lens from the Sustainable Livelihoods Frameworks, Sen's (1999) Capabilities Approach, and concepts from industrial sociology to examine the human scale issues in MIDR. These issues are examined at three levels: household, policy platforms and institutional practices. Habermas' (1984) idea of "communicative action" is also deployed to conceptualise potential areas of intersection across these levels. Primary data is analyzed from interviews with a sample of 82 participants and informants, comprising twenty-five (25) randomly selected household participants and fifty-seven (57) key informants. Documents are analysed as primary sources for understanding the legal and regulatory instruments, policies and guidelines pertaining to MIDR within Ghana and the international context. At the household level, the findings from the research confirmed the established pattern of impoverishment and vulnerability resulting from MIDR. The pressures of being dispossessed, combined with the rapid transformations associated with industrial scale mining, were prominent and directly explained the impoverishment process facing the households. Attempts

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Towards a critical geography of resettlement

Cited by 84 publications

References 122 publications

Precarious resettlement at the Bui Dam, Ghana—Unmaking the teleological

Precarious resettlement at the Bui Dam, Ghana—Unmaking the teleological

Unpacking the post‐Haiyan disaster resettlement narratives of young Filipino women informal settlers in Tacloban City, Philippines

Conceptualizing household livelihood needs in mining-induced displacement and resettlement: a case study from Ghana

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