Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Contested Development Priorities and Post-Tsunami Recovery in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu

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Graduate student Raja H. Swamy, supervised by Dr. Charles R. Hale, will undertake research on the relationship between contested economic development priorities and post-disaster recovery efforts, using India as a case study. The key research question is how post-Tsunami reconstruction efforts in the coastal district of Nagapattinam in South India's Tamil Nadu state influence the ongoing contestation over appropriate uses of coastal lands. The primary conflict that will be investigated is between government led economic development efforts and livelihood interests of artisanal fishing communities. Three facets of the district's coastal political economy are central to investigating this conflict. First, the economic agenda of the state and the stiff resistance it encountered especially over the expansion of coastal shrimp aquaculture. Second, the dominant role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in post-disaster recovery efforts, and the contradictory implications of this involvement for the livelihood interests of artisanal fisher communities. Third, patterns of post-disaster aid that distinguish between humanitarian and economic needs, with the former targeting artisanal fishing communities and the latter favoring shrimp aquaculture and industrial fishing.The researcher will employ a wide range of social science research methods, including participant observation, formal and informal interviews, organized focus groups, and archival research. He will conduct the research in four villages in Nagapattinam district. The villages were selected on the basis of impact of the tsunami and a history of opposition to shrimp aquaculture. The main interview subjects will be artisanal fisherpersons. Additionally he will interview government officials, fisheries experts, NGO fieldworkers, and community-based activists. This study is necessitated by the growing phenomenon of increasing conflicts between multiple economic policies and agendas on post-disaster reconstruction processes. The research will help to develop new social science theory to understand the local human impacts of extreme weather events. The findings of this study will contribute to debates on development policy by drawing attention to the need for a more effective and holistic approach to disaster-management, particularly in the context of societies characterized by substantial social inequalities.