Introduction

This chapter introduces readers to what Enarson and Morrow call the gendered terrain of disaster and post-disaster reconstruction in the context of South Asia. Another is to interrogate some of the conceptual conundrums embedded in the growing literature on disasters and gender. Indeed, three propositions have now become axiomatic in the world of gendered disaster studies. The first is that gender plays out in disasters in ways that require its attention in relief and recovery efforts. The second axiom is that women are particularly vulnerable in the post-disaster period. Third, disaster-risk reduction, disaster management and disaster recovery can reinforce or undermine longer-range development programmes and strategies as well as women's empowerment. One of the challenges in thinking about or working in the field of post-disaster studies is the lack of clarity about the object of study. An examination of several recent, supposedly state-of-the-art disaster or emergency management textbooks reveals a glaring absence of gender or even women as topics of interest.