Structural neglect and colonial legacies: Why ‘resilience’ as a flood response deepens inequality in vulnerable communities worldwide
Original framing: “As flood risk rises, some communities question the idea of resilience” — The Conversation - Global
The modern ‘resilience’ discourse mirrors the 19th-century ‘self-help’ ideology that justified austerity for the poor, framing vulnerability as a moral failing rather than a structural outcome. Historical precedents like the 1953 North Sea Flood (where Dutch coastal defences saved urban centres but left rural communities to fend for themselves) show how ‘resilience’ often serves to prioritise economic zones over marginalised populations. Additionally, the post-WWII ‘Big Dams’ movement displaced millions while creating flood risks downstream, setting a precedent for outsourcing disaster management to downstream communities—now repackaged as ‘resilience.’ The 2005 Hurricane Katrina response further exposed how ‘resilience’ programs disproportionately burden Black and low-income communities, repeating historical patterns of racialised disaster response.
Text: The ‘resilience’ narrative is a modern iteration of colonial and neoliberal governance strategies that shift blame for environmental disasters from institutions to individuals, while obscuring the structural causes of vulnerability.
Historical precedents like the 1927 Mississippi Flood—where Black communities were excluded from relief—mirror today’s ‘resilience’ programs, which disproportionately burden marginalised groups with the costs of climate change. Indigenous floodplain management practices, suppressed via displacement and deforestation, offer a counter-narrative where ecological stewardship replaces individual adaptation, but these are erased by mainstream ‘resilience’ frameworks that prioritise market-based solutions. The trickster’s perspective exposes the absurdity of asking communities to ‘adapt’ while governments fund industries that worsen floods, revealing ‘resilience’ as both a tool of control and a site of resistance. Solutions must decolonise governance, tax polluters, mandate reparative zoning, and amplify marginalised knowledge—restoring flood management as a collective, not individual, endeavour rooted in justice.