Inductive Intersectionality and the Articulation of Inequality in Long-term Recovery from Disasters

• In Event: 519 - Section on Race, Class and Gender Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 06. Intersectionality and Inequality in the Life Course

Abstract

This paper focuses on long-term recovery from disaster in two locations: Joplin, Missouri and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I have three aims in the paper. The first is to introduce a new way to think about complex and imbricating inequalities. I conceive of this as inductive intersectionality and argue that this approach is a way out of the many debates in the social sciences about how to best to intersectional work. Inductive intersectionality insists on the importance of context—historic, socio-politic, and geographic—as important considerations in how to study inequalities. Second, I introduce Joplin and Tuscaloosa. Both cities were devastated by tornadoes in 2011. Thus, my second aim is to give a brief history of both locations with attention to race and class inequalities. Third, I use data from fieldwork that spans three years and from 162 interviews I conducted in both locations. My purpose is to show that inequities in recovery are based on pre-existing inequalities that are a result of Joplin’s history as a mining and sundown town and Tuscaloosa’s history as a university town, segregation, and white flight. I also show how perceptions of response vary based on race, class, and gender. My broad goals are two-fold: first, to use inductive intersectionality to make sense of my findings. Second, I conclude by using my empirical findings from my comparative case studies to bolster the larger theoretical argument. That is, to best understand complex inequalities, we must pay attention to context.

Author

• Ashleigh Elain McKinzie, University of Georgia