Paper short abstract:

Drawing from fieldwork conducted in a Salvadoran municipality, this presentation will discuss the manner in which disasters are framed in participatory training methodologies aimed at mapping vulnerability and boosting the resilience of townspeople in the aftermath of two severe earthquakes.

Paper long abstract:

Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a Salvadoran municipality, this presentation will discuss the manner in which disasters are framed in participatory training methodologies aimed at mapping vulnerability and boosting the resilience of townspeople in the aftermath of two severe earthquakes.The paper will focus on the training practices of NGOs involved during the post-disaster humanitarian response, and more specifically on awareness-raising initiatives aimed at different target groups: local disaster victims, municipal authorities, and beneficiaries in reconstruction projects. We will look at specific cases concerning vulnerability analysis, municipal preparedness and community health where a similar vision of participation and resilience is upheld which reproduces the canons of techno-scientific knowledge. However, each case also revealed the limitations of expert knowledge and the ritualistic aspect of participatory methodologies, especially when these are based in mapping techniques. While the critique of community participation is well established, what this paper seeks to analyze is how a common vision of adaptability to crisis is disseminated, inscribed in participatory mapping techniques and how it commonly falls short of accounting for deep-seated vectors of everyday catastrophes. In other words, while performing resilience is reified it can also dangerously imply that populations should domesticate ongoing crises and forms of violence that catastrophes often exacerbate.