‘Disaster Identity’ as a new analytical approach for Disaster Studies: The paradigmatic case of disaster identity construction in Valparaíso, Chile

On 12 April 2014, the coastal city of Valparaíso, Chile, was affected by Mega
Fire that destroyed seven of its major hills, leaving thousands of affected families
and major urban chaos behind. This is the latest happening of a historical
relationship of this place and its communities with disaster events, that goes back
two-hundred years to its original emplacement.
In this thesis I will establish how this historically embedded way of life can be
recognised through meaningful collective experiences of diverse communities
that share a common place through time. I further argue that these meaningful
collective experiences tend to merge into everyday city-making life, in what I call
‘Disaster Identity’; a key analytical tool that entwines the relationship amongst
disaster, identity and place in disaster-prone places.
I propose that this particular identity construction process is based on four main
arguments: constantly re-signified social memory; collectively created identity
and place-making through deep topophilic relationships with space; socially
constructed resistant resilience that opposes demagogic clientelism; and
culturally created false expectations due to failed urban recuperation plan post-
disasters. Working together, they evidence that disasters are also sociocultural
constructions; such an understanding is lacking from mainstream discussions in
disaster studies.
This research is a product of intersubjective analysis applied to Valparaíso’s 2014
Mega Fire and other relevant historical disasters. Hence, I designed a mixed
method fieldwork, where the most-rich descriptive data was obtained through 50
interviews and archival work related to historic disasters before 2014. Both data
collection and analysis were organised through relevant explanations of disaster
experiences highlighted by participants, applying intersubjective interpretation to
their narratives.
This thesis foregrounds the important role that social sciences can offer to
disaster studies, all of which would be of use to decision-makers for better-
planned schemes in facing potential disaster events in disaster-prone places.