Disasters are often, outside disaster studies, viewed as singularities. This characterization of disaster disallows analysis of racial violence and dispossession structurally instituted across multiple disasters. As a result, repeatedly poor pre‐disaster and post‐disaster planning is leveraged to displace and disenfranchise marginalized communities. With climate change, disasters are projected to become more intense and frequent, necessitating a serious inquiry into inequalities occurring across repeated disasters. This essay uses theories of colonialism and coloniality from Puerto Rico to examine how colonialism operates through repeated disaster, in this case hurricanes. Building off of research on environmental colonialism in Puerto Rico, the concept of disaster colonialism is proposed to explain how procedural vulnerability is deepened through disasters and subsequently leveraged to deepen coloniality. To illustrate the utility of this term, a brief overview of Puerto Rico's environmental history with hurricanes is examined through the lens of disaster colonialism. Ultimately, the commentary poses three questions to planners relative to the concept of disaster colonialism.
Dr. Danielle Zoe Rivera is an urban designer and urban planner. Her research engages issues of urban informality and decolonization through both design and policy. These professional and theoretical inquiries frequently draw her to study community organizing, environmental justice, and social movements.
Rivera’s current research examines urban informality in low-income Latino/a communities, primarily Mexican-American and Puerto Rican communities. At ENVD, she teaches courses on physical planning, community engagement, social equity, and urban design & planning theories.
Rivera holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan, a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Pennsylvania State University.