Flying rooftops and matchbox houses: politics of knowledge, performative realities, and the materialization of crisis in the reconstruction of Southern Honduras after Hurricane Mitch

2004·14 MB·English

by  Barrios, Roberto E

FLYINGROOFTOPSANDMATCHBOXHOUSES:POLITICSOFKNOWLEDGE,
PERFORMATIVEREALITIES,ANDTHEMATERIALIZATIONOFCRISISINTHE
RECONSTRUCTIONOFSOUTHERNHONDURASAFTERHURRICANEMITCH
By
ROBERTOE.BARRIOS
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2004
TABLEOFCONTENTS
page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v
LISTOFTABLES vi
LISTOFFIGURES viii
ABSTRACT x
CHAPTER
1 THEETHNOGRAPHYOFCOMPELXITYINTHERECONSTRUCTION
ENCOUNTER 1
DefiningtheCrisisanditsAftermath 3
FlyingRooftopsandMatchboxHouses:ABriefOverview 17
2 SUYAPA'SSTORY:THERELEVANCEOFSOCIALTHEORYTOPOST-
DISASTERCOMMUNITYRECONSTRUCTION 27
HurricaneMitchinNumbers 31
VulnerabilityTheoryandPoliticalEcology:An IntroductiontotheAnthropology
ofDisasters 32
WhyDidtheRiversGrowandtheMountainsCollapse? 34
The GreadDivideintheAnthropologyofDisasters 39
AftertheHurricane 53
Beforeproceeding:ANoteonHeuristicDevices 57
ResistanceandAccommodation:TheDanceofAgencyintheReconstruction
Encounter 59
NarrativesofTranscendence,CulturalNarrativesandtheBodyPolitic 64
Mimesis,RepresentationandtheOntologyofObjects 67
KeepingPerspective:BacktoHonduras 79
3 RESEARCHSITESANDMETHODS 76
RegionalHistory 77
Choluteca 84
TheHurricaneAffectedNeighborhoods 88
TheReconstructionCommunities 94
ii
LimondelaCerca 95
MarcelinoChampagnat 106
ResearchMethods 109
4 REPRESENTATIONSOFCOMMUNITYANDVICTIMHOODINDISASTER
RECONSTRUCTION 114
KnowingtheDamnificados:OvercomingtheChallengesofRepresentationandthe
DesireforEmpiricalOmniscienceintheEthnographyofReconstruction....126
ReconstructingMarginality:TheBirthofLimondelaCerca 130
MatchboxHousesandFlyingRooftops:PowerandHierarchiesofKnowledgein
ReconstructionAssistance 142
WhereOpacityisanEffectofPower,ProducedbyAntipoliticsMachinesand
theManagerializationofDisasterReconstruction 151
ManglingTechnologiesandAlternativeDiscoursesofAlterity:Different
PossibilitiesforPost-DisasterCommunityReconstruction 164
Electricity,EssentializedCategories,andTechnologicalMetaphors 170
Damnificada/osasCommodity:OperationChristmasChild 180
5 CONVERSATIONSWITHDAMNIFICADOS 186
Hallarse:ToFindOneself 199
DaniaLisetteandReynaldoAlberto 205
6 HEALINGKNOWLEDGEANDTHEPOLITICSOFCLINICAL
ENCOUNTERS 216
Fever 219
OjoandMoto 227
CrossingEpistemicBoundaries 231
7 CHILDREN,HOUSEHOLDS,ANDINSTITUTIONALNARRATIVESOFTHE
BODY 239
TheNarrativeStructureofNutritionalEpidemiology 246
Anthropometry 256
Dietary Intake 259
TheMimeticFacultyofNutritionStatistics 277
PerformativityinNutritionalEpidemiology 283
Conclusion 285
iii
APPENDIX
LISTOFREFERENCES 287
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 300
IV
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ithankmyparents,DomingoEverardoandMariaTeresa,andmysister,Miriam
Isabel,fortheiraffectionandcontinuedinterestinmywork.Ialsothankmydissertation
committeeandthosefacultymembersoftheDepartmentofAnthropologyandHealth
ScienceEducationattheUniversityofFloridawhowereessentialforthecreationofthis
document,AllanF.Bums,AnthonyOliver-Smith,JamesP.Stansbury,DeloresC.E.
James,StaceyLangwick,LynnetteNorr,andmyfriendsandcolleagues,withoutwhom
mygraduatetrainingwouldnothavebeenthesame,JenniferHale-Gallardo,LisaOliver,
LaurenFordyce,AntoniodelaPena,RobertM.Freeman,JeanDennison,Debra
Rodman-Ruiz,DivianMendoza,KathrynE.McHarry,RodneyStubina,Kathleen
Ragsdale,andDrewKitchen.IalsothankKellyMcGuireforherunendingloveand
patiencethroughoutmytrainingasananthropologist.Finally,Ithankthedirectorsand
staffoftheLatinAmericanCollection,RichardPhillips,PaulLoschandJustinoLlanque.
v
.
LISTOFTABLES
Table page
3-1 RiverfrontneighborhoodsofCholutecaincludedinstudyandnumberofhousehold
surveysconductedineach 89
3-2 OccupationsoffemalesurveyrespondentsinriverfrontneighborhoodsofCholuteca
90
3-3 Occupationsoffemalesurveyrespondent’smalepartnersoroldestemployedmale
inhousehold 91
3-
3-4 Housingmaterialandconditionsin9hurricaneaffectedneighborhoodsof
4- Choluteca 92
3-5 ListofeightcoloniasofLimondelaCerca 100
3-6 OccupationsofLimondelaCerca,MarcelinoChampagnatandCholutecafemale
surveyrespondents 101
3-7 Occupationsofadultmalepartnersornearestofkinforsurveyrespondentsin
LimondelaCerca,MarcelinoChampagnatandCholuteca 102
8 Comparisonofmaterialstyleoflifeindex(MSL)anddependencyratio
(DR=<16/>16)meansbyresearchsite 104
1 Shelter-seekingstrategiesofLimondelaCercaresidents 132
4-2 Shelter-seekingstrategiesforMarcelinoChampagnatresidents 133
4-3 Barrios,coloniasandtownsofresidenceofdamnificadospriortoHurricaneMitch
134
4-4 Typologyofdisasteraffectedcommunities 174
7-1 PercentageofsevereandmoderatemalnutritionamongHonduranchildrenunder5
yearsofage,1999UniversityofFloridastudyversusearliersurveys 240
7-2 Comparisonofheightforage(HAZ),weightforage(WAZ)andweightforheight
(WHZ)z-scoremeansbyresearchsite 257
vi
7-3 Comparisonofstunting,underweightandwastingprevalencebyresearchsite....257
7-4 Averagehouseholdenergyneedsratio(ENR)andcompositionofcaloricintakeby
researchsite 260
7-5 Averagehouseholdproteinneedsratio(PNR)andproteinintakecompositionby
researchsite 261
7-6 Comparisonofmaterialstyleoflifeindex(MSL)anddependencyratio
(D.R.=<16/>16)meansbyresearchsite 262
7-7 Comparisonoffemalesurveyrespondentandmalepartnersormaleheadsof
householdyearsofeducationmeans 264
7-8 PearsoncorrelationsforLimondelaCerca 265
7-9 PearsoncorrelationsforMarcelinoChampagnat 267
7-10PearsoncorrelationsforhurricaneaffectedneighborhoodsofCholuteca 269
7-11 Regressionmodeloutcomesforanthropometryz-scores 275
7-12Regressionmodeloutcomesforsourcesofcaloricintake 276
vii
57
LISTOFFIGURES
F2-igure page
3-
2-1 Floodinganditscauses 69
2-2 Floodplainmanagement 70
3 CholutecaMunicipalityYear1998/1999AnnualReport 73
3-1 MapofHonduras 77
34--2 MapofCholuteca 85
3-3 Houseswithoutplaster 97
3-4 LimondelaCercaintherainyseason 97
3-5 Garbagecollectedinadrainageditch 98
3-6 MapofLimondelaCerca 99
7 Non-governmentalorganization(NGO)signwithpaintedstreetganglogo 107
1 LimondelaCercaresidentsstandinginfrontoftheirmicro 11
4-2 Streetganggraffittionhouse 117
4-3 Wind-damagedhouse 11
4-4 Electricitypolewithnowiring 118
4-5 HouseinMarcelinoChampagnat 119
4-6 MarcelinoChampagnatcommunitysign 119
4-7 UnitedStatesAgencyforInternationalDevelopmentbudget 122
4-8 LimondelaCercasignwithmayor'scrossedoutwithblackpaint 140
4-9 LimondelaCercahousewithrockssecuringroof 144
4-10 Houseconstructiondetail 145
viii
4-11 NationalElectricCompany(ENEE)lettertoCholutecamunicipality 176
4-12 Samaritan'sPurseOperationChristmasChildwebpage 181
IX
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
FLYINGROOFTOPSANDMATCHBOXHOUSES:POLITICSOFKNOWLEDGE,
PERFORMATIVEREALITIES,ANDTHEMATERIALIZATIONOFCRISISINTHE
RECONSTRUCTIONOFSOUTHERNHONDURASAFTERHURRICANEMITCH
By
RobertoE.Barrios
December2004
Chair: AllanF.Bums
MajorDepartment: Anthropology
Thisdissertationexaminestheprocessthroughwhichthedistributionofpost-
disasterreconstructionassistancecanproduceconditionsofsocialcrisis. Thestudy
focusesonthecaseofLimondelaCerca,Honduras,acommunitysettledby904families
fromthecityofCholuteca,wholosttheirhomesin1998duringHurricaneMitch.Inthe
caseofthislocality,conditionsofcrisisweresynthesizedinmomentswhenaidresources
weredistributedandarrangedbyinstitutionalactorsonthebasisofnotionsofsocialand
economicnaturesthatwerenotsharedorintelligibletodisastersurvivors.Theconditions
ofcrisisthatImakereferencetointhisethnographyinclude1)theconstmctionofover
1,000homeswhosedimensionsdidnotsuitthelogistical,sensory,andaestheticneedsof
disastersurvivorsandwhichcouldnotwithstandtheenvironmentalstressesofthe
reconstructionsite,2)thedisintegrationofpre-hurricaneneighborhoodconstituencies
whichprovidedassistancewithchildcare,playedasignificantroleincrimeprevention,
andwereofprimaryimportanceincreatingasenseofplaceandcommunityfordisaster
x