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2.3 Social Distribution of Risk: A Case Study in Tehuantepec, Mexico

Abstract:

In the last few decades the number of reports associated with meteorological disasters has been increasing in many places all over the world. However, in some cases disasters seem to be more in connection with social vulnerability rather than extreme climatic events. We analyse the political matters that build a context of vulnerability. In this case study, political conflicts are linked to historical land problems and development projects that lead to population concentration in urban areas and their reorganization by political militancy in new neighbourhoods. Land repartitions and invasions were strategies from involved political forces. On the other hand, local governments ruled by clientelism excluded the opposite groups from basic urban services, increasing and distributing the risk of floods in specific areas of the studied municipalities in Tehuantepec Isthmus in Mexican State of Oaxaca.