Plenary: Unequal Effects: COVID-19, Natural Hazards, and Compound Disasters

Wednesday, July 13, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. MDT

As with the many disasters that preceded it, the COVID-19 pandemic yet again made visible the unequal effects that such events can have on various marginalized communities. It also brought to the forefront questions regarding how to understand these effects when they’re gradual in nature and intersect with other events. This plenary session will feature five papers that review the disparate and compound effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other natural hazards. Topics cover how COVID-19 created disparate impacts due to racial and social injustices or differential access to resources. Further, speakers will examine how the impacts of COVID-19 are amplified when coupled with other acute- as well as gradual-onset disasters.

Relationships Between Distribution of Disaster Aid, Economic Inequalities, and Health Equity in Puerto Rico

Alison Chopel, Independent Researcher
Laura Gorbea, Puerto Rico Public and Applied Social Sciences Workshop
Antonio Fernós Sagebien, Interamerican University

Disasters Without Borders: Sociology and the Ascendancy of Gradual Onset Disasters

James Goltz, University of Colorado Boulder
Katsuya Yamori, Kyoto University

The Complex Vulnerability of Incarcerated Persons and the Enduring Harm of COVID-19

Carlee Purdum, Texas A&M University

Social Norms and Social Support Shape Wildfire Smoke and COVID-19 Adaptation Behavior

Francisca Santana, Stanford University
Natalie Herbert, Stanford University
Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, Stanford University

Racial Differences in Response to COVID-19: Solidarity, Vulnerability, and Social Justice

Frederick Weil, Louisiana State University
Samantha Ramey, Louisiana State University
Oliver Garretson, Louisiana State University
Jiabin Fan, Louisiana State University
Alison Qi, Columbia University

Back to Schedule