(2014) 'Just another hurricane': the lived experience of everyday life in Plaquemines Parish, L

294 Pages·2015·20.24 MB·English

Bates, Seumas Talbot Gordon. (2014) ‘Just another hurricane’: the lived
experience of everyday life in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. PhD thesis.

http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6435/

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Enlighten:Theses
http://theses.gla.ac.uk/
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‘Just Another Hurricane’: The
Lived Experience of Everyday Life
in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana in
the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
and the BP Oil Spill

Seumas Talbot Gordon Bates
MA (Hons), MSc

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy, Anthropology

School of Social and Political Science
College of Social Sciences
University of Glasgow

August 2014
Page 2 of 293

Abstract

This thesis offers an ethnographic analysis of everyday life in a post-catastrophe
landscape shaped by two major disaster-processes – Hurricane Katrina (in 2005) and the
BP oil spill (in 2010). By exploring local cultural ‘becoming’, it argues that the impact of
these disaster-processes should not be conceptualised within a bounded period of
‘recovery’, but should be understood as forming part of the on-going construction of local
landscape and everyday lived experience.

The community of southern Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, where this study was
based, has an on-going relationship with hurricanes and oil spills, which occur (or threaten
to occur) with such frequency as to normalise the experience of disaster in local social life.
Katrina and the BP oil spill were outliers of experience due to their vast scale and relative
impact, but they were experienced by a community where local narratives of past
catastrophes (such as the major hurricanes of the 1960s), and the direct experience of
multiple smaller disaster-processes were deeply woven into local culture.

Furthermore, beyond the impact of these catastrophes this community was already
experiencing widespread cultural and economic precariousness. Firstly, where local
hierarchies of power (largely centred around White men) had become increasingly
threatened in the latter part of the 20th century, and secondly, where local economic
activity was characterised by high levels of instability and irregular employment. These
catastrophes were therefore experienced in a context of already on-going structural
precariousness, which in turn was impacted by the on-going ‘recovery’ from these large
disaster-processes.

It argues that while material or institutional reconstruction may be successfully
measured in terms of recovery goals or milestones, the cultural impact and ‘recovery’ from
these catastrophes should be conceptualised as forming part of the never-ending process of
‘becoming’, ultimately woven into the on-going experience of mundane everyday life.
Page 3 of 293

Contents
Chapter 1 – 9
Introduction
The Lived Experience of Disaster 9
Louisiana 13
Plaquemines Parish History 15
Plaquemines Parish Geography: The Primary Field-Site 18
Hurricanes 20
Hurricane Katrina 22
Oil Spills 27
The Deepwater Horizon/ BP Oil Spill 28
Techniques and Practice during Data Collection 33
Chapter Overview 41

Chapter 2 – 45
The Literature of Disaster
Introduction 45
Disaster Studies 46
Historical Disaster Studies 47
Contemporary Disaster Studies 50
‘Vulnerability’ and ‘Resistance’ 58
‘Recovery’ after a Disaster 67
The Anthropology Of Disaster 80
Historical Disaster Anthropology 80
Contemporary Disaster Anthropology 81
The Literature Of Hurricane Katrina And The BP Oil Spill 88
Administrative Failure 89
Oil Exploration 89
Race and Class: Vulnerability In New Orleans 91
Migration and ‘Refugee’ 93
Aid and Recovery 94
The Media’s Response 96
Conclusion 98
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Chapter 3 – 100
Precariousness Part 1: Power, Inequality, and the ‘Local’
Introduction 100
Constructing Us and Them 103
Declining America 107
Life in the Trailers 108
The Decline of the Parish, the Decline of America 111
Politics in the Post-Disaster Landscape 119
The Threat to ‘Local’ by the ‘Other’ 126
The Position of ‘White’ and ‘Black’ as Distinct Races 131
Conclusion 138

Chapter 4 – 140
Precariousness Part 2: Economy and Social Welfare
Introduction 140
Vulnerable Employment and Vulnerable Communities 141
Uncertain Incomes 141
A Lack of Insurance and Healthcare 145
Planning for an Uncertain Future 150
The Charity Of Strangers 155
Conclusion 162

Chapter 5 – 164
Insiders in the Aftermath of Catastrophe
Introduction 164
Locating Landscape 167
The Binary Opposites of Southern Plaquemines Parish 169
Introducing the Parish’s Binaries 170
An Appealing Media Narrative 170
“Stranger You Know” 172
Experiencing Mythic Space 175
The Shared Space of Oil and Fishing 181
Beyond The Levees 183
Within the Levees 187
Movement Between Oil and Fish 190
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Actively Constructing Place 195
Local Reconstruction 196
Volunteer Reconstruction 200
Conclusion 202

Chapter 6 – 206
Willing to Recover
Introduction 206
Recovery Through Willing 207
Refocusing Attention 210
Internal Reorientation 212
Narrative Concept of Action 215
Moral Willing and the Self 217
Recovery Through Personal Relationships 221
Recovery Outwith The Parish 228
Conclusion 231

Chapter 7 – 233
Evacuation and the Aftermath
Introduction 233
Planning, Leaving, and Staying, for Disaster 235
Deciding to Evacuate and Planning for Storms 235
Experiencing Home from Afar 240
Staying During Storms 242
Returning to the Aftermath of Katrina 246
Katrina and Everyday Life 247
The Lived Experience of Returning to an Unknown Home 253
Stability in the Mundane: Ordinary Objects After Katrina 255
Conclusion 263

Chapter 8 – 265
Concluding Remarks, and Suggestions for Further Study
Limitations, and Avenues for Future Study 278

Bibliography 280
Page 6 of 293

List of Images

Image 1: Plaquemines Parish within Louisiana 19
Image 2: Plaquemines Parish map 35
Image 3: Historical photos of the Parish 1 113
Image 4: Historical photos of the Parish 2 113
Image 5: Buras Volunteer Fire Department 114
Image 6: Flags of the Confederacy 130
Image 7: Welcome sign at Port Sulphur 165
Image 8: Oystermen at work 182
Image 9: Ship moored on Mississippi River 184
Image 10: House being raised on stilts 248
Image 11: Fridge stuck in a tree 258
Page 7 of 293

Acknowledgements

I wish to offer my heartfelt thanks to the people of Plaquemines Parish Louisiana
for their support and guidance during my fieldwork. Their generosity in opening their
homes to me, and their willingness to share often troubling memories made this thesis
possible.

I also wish to thank the academic supervisors who have shepherded me through my
studies over these years. Firstly, to Justin Kenrick who inspired me to attempt this piece of
work, and helped me prepare my initial proposal. Also to Harvie Ferguson and Gerda
Reith, who guided me through the early sections of my studies, and who helped me prepare
for entering the field. Finally to Jon Oldfield and Lucy Pickering, who helped give
meaning to my observations and field notes. Without them my writing and analysis would
have been impossible. Thank you all.

Beyond these individuals, it would be impossible to thank every colleague, scholar,
and friend who has helped and advised me during this process. However, thanks is
undoubtedly due to the many people who have helped me at the various stages of
completing this thesis.

Finally, special thanks has to go to my dear old mum, who never gave up on me.
Page 8 of 293

Author’s Declaration

I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, that
this dissertation is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other
degree at the University of Glasgow or any other institution.

Signature _____________________________________

Printed name ___________________________________
Page 9 of 293

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Old familiar places
Blown away in pieces
And our people,
Homeless and scattered,
Waiting to return
To the life we knew.
– Excerpt from ‘Katrina’, Conway (2010)

This chapter provides a broad introduction to this thesis in order to offer both
context and structure to the writing which follows. It begins by outlining the main
contributions the research makes to the field of the anthropology of disaster and the
interdisciplinary disaster studies. The chapter then proceeds to introduce the field-site in
which this ethnography was conducted, incorporating an historical and geographical
overview of Louisiana and Plaquemines Parish. It also provides an introduction to both
Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. The final part of the chapter discusses the research
techniques and practices used to gather the data presented, and outlines the key themes
covered in each subsequent chapter.

The Lived Experience of Disaster

By utilizing the deeply ethnographic approach anthropology can offer, this thesis
hopes to contribute to both the sub-discipline of the anthropology of disaster and to the
interdisciplinary field of disaster studies, by exploring the lived experience of a community
‘recovering’ from multiple catastrophic disaster-processes in a context where disasters are
culturally normalized. The catastrophes most directly discussed are Hurricane Katrina and
the BP oil spill, but also significant historic catastrophes such as Hurricanes Betsy and