Living with floods von Christiane Stephan

Living with floods addresses flooding as a globally prevalent phenomenon that people deal with in different and contested ways. As empirical examples from the Mexican river Usumacinta show, local perspectives of floods can be highly ambivalent, wherein floods are described as both positive and negative dynamics. Different evaluations of floods by different actors imply different prevention, mitigation and response measures. In this study, the management of flood risks is understood as part of a complex network of social practices. Drawing on theories of social practices, especially on conceptual approaches by Theodore Schatzki, this study develops a practice theory view on flood risk management. In a social science oriented tradition of geographical risk research, flood risks are discussed as the result of social constructions and decisions. Dominant risk concepts and precautionary measures are questioned and new conceptual and methodological approaches are developed on the basis of extensive empirical field work in Chiapas. This study offers insight into "living with floods", its socio-cultural characteristics as well as its political relevance.

Christiane Stephan holds a position as post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Geography at Bonn University. She is active in research and teaching as part of the working group "development research". A focus of her research lies on the development of approaches for participatory and qualitative research, especially visual methods. The author has worked in different institutional settings as e.g. the Institute of Rescue Engineering and Civil Protection at TH Cologne, the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance in Bonn as well as GIZ in Eschborn and Cameroon.