Challenging the Notion of Disaster: Women's Experiences from Chilean Informal Settlements

The global urban poor population, estimated at hundreds of millions, live in precarious conditions and is particularly vulnerable to natural or anthropogenic hazards due to their insecure and inadequate living conditions (Tipple, 2005). In Chile, informal settlements known as ‘campamentos’ are examples of such precarious living conditions, where people live in low-quality houses built by themselves, lacking access to clean water, sewage, and electricity, a common condition in informal settlements in the global south.

This presentation explores how women living in informal settlements (campamentos) in Chile experience and conceptualize disasters. Drawing from qualitative interviews conducted with residents of informal settlements in Copiapó (Atacama Region, north of Chile), this research examines the intersection of disaster risk with everyday hazards in contexts of socio-material fragility. The narrative of these women reveals an expanded understanding of disaster, not only as large-scale natural events like the 2015 Atacama floods but also as smaller, personal crises—such as struggles for basic services like water and electricity. For them, a disaster is defined by its inability to manage its effects, whether it be a natural hazard or an everyday hazard. The presentation critiques the institutional definitions of disaster risk in Chile taken by global north frameworks, which often prioritize large-scale natural hazards while neglecting the localized damage experiences. This gap results in the exclusion of informal settlement residents from public disaster mitigation efforts, leaving them reliant on informal networks of mutual support. Drawing on theories of the social construction of disaster risk (Gaillard, 2022; Lizarralde, 2021; Douglas, 1985), this presentation argues that disaster risk management must integrate local perceptions of risk and disaster to strengthen community capacities and agency. By examining women's lived experiences in ‘campamentos’, this research challenges conventional disaster risk frameworks and advocates for a more inclusive and capacity-building approach to disasters.