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

研究生拉贾·h·斯瓦米（Raja H. Swamy）将在查尔斯·r·黑尔（Charles R. Hale）博士的指导下，以印度为例，对有争议的经济发展优先事项与灾后恢复工作之间的关系进行研究。关键的研究问题是，海啸后印度南部泰米尔纳德邦纳加帕提南沿海地区的重建工作如何影响正在进行的关于沿海土地合理利用的争论。将调查的主要冲突是政府主导的经济发展努力与手工捕鱼社区的生计利益之间的冲突。该地区沿海政治经济的三个方面是调查这场冲突的核心。首先，国家的经济议程及其遇到的顽固阻力，特别是在扩大沿海虾类养殖方面。第二，非政府组织在灾后恢复工作中的主导作用，以及这种参与对个体渔民社区生计利益的矛盾影响。第三，区分人道主义需求和经济需求的灾后援助模式，前者针对的是手工捕鱼社区，后者则支持虾类水产养殖和工业捕鱼。研究者将采用广泛的社会科学研究方法，包括参与观察、正式和非正式访谈、有组织的焦点小组和档案研究。他将在Nagapattinam区的四个村庄进行研究。这些村庄是根据海啸的影响和反对虾养殖的历史选择的。主要访谈对象为手工渔民。此外，他还将采访政府官员、渔业专家、非政府组织实地工作者和社区活动人士。由于多种经济政策和灾后重建进程议程之间的冲突日益增加，因此有必要进行这项研究。这项研究将有助于发展新的社会科学理论，以了解极端天气事件对当地人类的影响。这项研究的结果将有助于关于发展政策的辩论，因为它提请人们注意需要对灾害管理采取更有效和更全面的办法，特别是在社会极不平等的社会中。

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.