Abstract:
This presentation challenges the dominant approach to examining flooding through a case study of the 2011 Bangkok floods, the fourth‐costliest disaster ever and which led to over 800 deaths. The alternative approach developed here views floods not only as outcomes of biophysical processes but also as products of political decisions, economic interests, and power relations. This approach illustrates how vulnerability to floods in Bangkok, which is a combination of exposure to floods and capacity to cope with them, and the extent to which floods are a disaster, are uneven at multiple scales across geographical and social landscapes.
Short bio:
Dr. Danny Marks is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at the Department of Asian and International Studies of City University of Hong Kong. Prior to this position, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs of the University of Toronto. Dr. Marks has spent a number of years conducting research and working in Southeast Asia, particularly in the fields of climate change adaptation and environmental governance. He completed his PhD dissertation, An Urban Political Ecology of the 2011 Bangkok Floods, at the University of Sydney. His research interests are disaster governance, climate justice, and Thai domestic politics.
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