Assessing social vulnerability and identifying spatial hotspots of flood risk to inform socially just flood management policy

This study presents the first nationwide spatial assessment of flood risk to identify social vulnerability and flood exposure hotspots that support policies aimed at protecting high-risk populations and geographical regions of Canada. The study used a national-scale flood hazard dataset (pluvial, fluvial, and coastal) to estimate a 1-in-100-year flood exposure of all residential properties across 5721 census tracts. Residential flood exposure data were spatially integrated with a census-based multidimensional social vulnerability index (SoVI) that included demographic, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic indicators influencing vulnerability. Using Bivariate Local Indicators of Spatial Association (BiLISA) cluster maps, the study identified geographic concentration of flood risk hotspots where high vulnerability coincided with high flood exposure. The results revealed considerable spatial variations in tract-level social vulnerability and flood exposure. Flood risk hotspots belonged to 410 census tracts, 21 census metropolitan areas, and eight provinces comprising about 1.7 million of the total population and 51% of half-a-million residential properties in Canada. Results identify populations and the geographic regions near the core and dense urban areas predominantly occupying those hotspots. Recognizing priority locations is critically important for government interventions and risk mitigation initiatives considering socio-physical aspects of vulnerability to flooding. Findings reinforce a better understanding of geographic flood-disadvantaged neighborhoods across Canada, where interventions are required to target preparedness, response, and recovery resources that foster socially just flood management strategies.     

灾害社会科学:基于脆弱性视角的整合范式

灾害的社会与自然双重属性共同形塑了灾害多学科交叉研究谱系,灾害研究方法与话语体系亦呈现区隔性。随着现实与理论的双重驱动,灾害研究迈入整合研究的全新阶段,新范式的发展与完善便成为核心议题。本文聚焦灾害社会科学中的脆弱性研究范式兴起与演进过程,并基于脆弱性视角提出研究灾害发生与演化的本土化整合分析话语体系。     

Contextualizing Potential Factors Impacting on Behaviors of Primary School Adolescents in Northern Uganda

Our study contextualized empirical factors influencing adolescent behaviors. An assessment using focus group discussion (FGD) was done with randomly selected adolescents in primary schools in Northern Uganda to explore the influence of child poverty and parenting among other factors on adolescents' behaviors. A semi-structured interview guide and in-depth interviews were also conducted for parents/guardians and teachers, respectively. Adolescents expressed desirable developmental outcomes contrary to teachers' concerns regarding achieving them. Parenting and places of residence had a significant positive impact on adolescent behaviors, with the village residence having a much earlier influence compared to parenting. Our findings revealed a scanty understanding of child poverty, parenting, and adolescent development among parents/guardians. Any action-oriented toward awareness would promote adolescent behavioral development.     

Representations of vulnerability,innocence and evil in the murder of a disabled person

Abstract

This article uses the murder of a young man with learning disabilities as a case study to comment on the representations used in the reporting of crime against disabled people. It uses social representations theory as a theoretical lens to assist us to see that portrayals of both victim and perpetrators by the media and others serves to distance them from each other, and from mainstream society. It highlights how this process of ‘othering’ serves to disadvantage disabled people and places a disproportionate emphasis on individual characteristics.     

Fractured lives: understanding urban youth vulnerability in Perú

ABSTRACT

The paper reports on a mixed methods study that sought to analyse determinants of youth labour market and educational disengagement in Peru. It begins by questioning the widespread focus on NEET – youth not in employment, education or training – as a measure of youth vulnerability in countries with extensive informal labour markets where labour precarity can be as problematic as unemployment for young people’s futures. A broader category of ‘urban vulnerable’ youth, including both NEET and precarious workers, is proposed and used as the basis for analysing the factors that influence young people’s trajectories. Key factors and shocks in youth trajectories are identified through qualitative life histories, and are tested using cross-section and panel survey data. Findings from the study have implications for the analysis of youth labour market vulnerability in the Global South, as well as for the policies that seek to address this problem.     

政治风险视域下国际工程项目系统的脆弱性研究

基于项目系统脆弱性的视角,分别从能力维度(核心竞争力、相对议价能力和综合适应能力)和风险暴露维度(项目属性的暴露、企业属性的暴露和交易属性的暴露),识别并探讨影响国际工程项目系统相应于政治风险的脆弱性因素,并依据能力维度和暴露维度的高低将系统脆弱性分成4种状态,针对每种脆弱性状态的特点,给出承包商可采取的相应策略.最后选取了6个典型国际工程项目进行了实证分析.结果表明:中国的国际承包商在高政治风险区域展开国际业务时,可依据项目系统所面临政治风险时的脆弱性状态采取合适的策略以更好地管理政治风险.     

Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable Young Men: A Study of Service Provider Views

This article uses a qualitative approach to elicit the views of 31 professionals who provide services to vulnerable young men. The findings reveal six key themes following focus group interviews: (i) the importance of masculinity in explaining problematic behaviour; (ii) the misuse of alcohol and drugs; (iii) alienation and social isolation; (iv) concerns about suicide and self‐harm; (v) the quality of existing services; and (vi) recommendations for changes to services. Service providers generally acknowledged the social context in explaining these behaviours and argued for enhanced services and a more developed skills base in working with vulnerable young men.     

家庭异质性视角下农户脆弱性影响因素研究

基于家庭发展能力框架构建农户脆弱性影响因素分析框架,使用中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）2010-2018年5期数据,通过交互效应面板模型研究不同收入水平、不同家庭生命周期农户脆弱性的影响因素。研究表明,以工作时间、教育支出和保险支出衡量的内生动力均会对农户脆弱性产生影响,其中工作时间、保险支出降低了农户的脆弱性,然而教育支出由于“因学致贫”在短期内反而会增加农户脆弱性,中长期（4年）才能有效降低农户脆弱性;宏观环境主要代表的政策环境能够有效降低农户脆弱性。不同收入水平、不同家庭生命周期的农户脆弱性的关键影响因素具有明显的异质性。未来中国的防贫治理需要双管齐下,从激发内生动力和维持帮扶政策两个方面防止低收入农户返贫,警惕农户“因学致贫”和“因学返贫”现象,普及农村成年劳动力和老年人的商业保险覆盖以及重点关注负担期和空巢期的农户脆弱性。     

“脚手架”的坚强与脆弱——评刘翼平长篇报告文学《脚手架》

《脚手架》简明而清晰地展现了零陵人从20世纪80年代开始到本世纪初期二十多年的艰苦创业史，目的是为了给奔小康的农民树立可资学习的典范。作者表现了“脚手架”人和“脚手架”精神的坚强．也暗含了“脚手架”市场的脆弱，给读者既提供了启迪，也引发了思考。     

Promoting Resilient Livelihoods through Adaptive Social Protection: Lessons from 124 programmes in South Asia

Adaptive Social Protection refers to efforts to integrate social protection (SP), disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA), the need for which is increasingly recognised by practitioners and academics. Relying on 124 agricultural programmes implemented in five countries in Asia, this article considers how these elements are being brought together, and explores the potential gains of these linkages. It shows that full integration is still relatively limited but that, when it occurs, it helps to shift the time horizon beyond short‐term interventions aimed at supporting peoples' coping strategies and/or graduation objectives, towards longer‐term interventions that can help promote transformation towards climate and disaster resilient livelihood options.