ABSTRACT
Disasters result from human practices that enhance the destructive effects of geophysical phenomena and place certain sectors of an affected population at greater risk of harm during catastrophic events (Blaikie et al. 1994; Oliver-Smith, 1999; Bankoff and Hilhorst, 2004). Because disasters are never purely ‘natural’ but are the result of relationships between people and environment, social scientists see disaster reconstruction as a critical moment when policy makers and disaster-affected populations may reflect on and address the human practices that give disasters their form and magnitude (Wisner, 1995; Oliver-Smith, 1999; Ganapati and Ganapati, 2009). These reflections take place when people ask the question: What should be reconstructed?
