Acceptable Risk, or Flawed Development?

As defined by Ulrich Beck, risk is a generalized condition of modernity. Risk is unavoidable. But our class status and privilege is, in part, framed by our ability to minimize risk. The question I'd like to raise is whether or not the disproportionate impacts (from environmental disasters) to low-income communities is truly miscalculated risk, or if basic methods of development need to be reformed.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was combination of engineering flaws in the dike system and the destruction of natural wetland buffers. This "natural disaster" was what many would call a result of manufactured risk: a byproduct of human activity rather than a natural process. A consequence of anthropological risk (or in my eyes, flawed development) led to contaminants in the flood waters and countless displaced families who continued to feel negative health effects even years later.

This is an example of misguided development: those low-income communities most drastically affected by the hurricane were already experiencing a "poverty of deprivation" and were displaced from means of subsistence to be developed. This concept can be applied to nearly every environmental health dilemma, from high rates of asthma to lack of healthy food availability. The 'development' flaw goes way beyond failed dike systems; it started with structural inequalities (like risk assessment issues and structural violence) and an inadequate social infrastructure to deal with the aftermath.

Families who are on the edge of subsistence are always more vulnerable in the face of a natural disaster, but this concept is exacerbated by further inequalities in development decisions. Being part of a "developed nation" certainly doesn't mean that economic development positively impacts the context of your life. Ultimately, risks are taken in determining what is acceptable for communities, and consequences are not felt by the decision makers themselves. A natural disaster exposes these inequities and calls for a more balanced form of social development that prioritizes factors other than growth.