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The idea of ‘ C ountry’: Reframing post‐disaster recovery in I ndigenous T aiwan settings
Author(s) -
Hsu Minna,
Howitt Richard,
Chi ChunChieh
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
asia pacific viewpoint
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.571
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1467-8373
pISSN - 1360-7456
DOI - 10.1111/apv.12058
Subject(s) - cognitive reframing , framing (construction) , indigenous , government (linguistics) , sociology , political science , public relations , political economy , social psychology , engineering , psychology , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , biology , structural engineering
In Australian Aboriginal thinking, the idea of ‘ C ountry’ comprises complex ideas about relationships and connection. It simultaneously encompasses territorial affiliation, a social identification and cosmological orientation. It draws attention to what might be glossed as people‐to‐environment, people‐to‐people and people‐to‐cosmos relations. These relations influence disaster responses, but are rarely mobilised explicitly in shaping formal recovery and reconstruction efforts. Colonial disruption of connections to Country imposed new practices and presences into contemporary Indigenous geographies and is often reinforced in disaster settings. This paper considers more recent disruptions arising from post‐disaster recovery in Taiwan, arguing that the idea of Country offers a powerful way of framing cultural and social dimensions of post‐disaster relief and recovery for government agencies, non‐government organisations and research alike.