Author
Listed:
- Katherine Campos
(Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (CIGIDEN) ANID FONDAP 1522A0005, Santiago 8940000, Chile
Instituto de Sociología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile)
- Magdalena Gil
(Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (CIGIDEN) ANID FONDAP 1522A0005, Santiago 8940000, Chile
Escuela de Gobierno, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile)
Abstract
This article examines Chile’s post-disaster data collection and management, focusing on state legibility tools for identifying housing damage and victims’ needs. Drawing on James Scott’s theory of legibility, we explore how standardized categories are used in disaster management. Through documentary analysis and key informant interviews, we assess the strengths and limitations of the forms used for allocating aid. The 2022 Viña del Mar wildland–urban interface fire serves as a case study to illustrate how classification systems determine victim status, influencing government resource allocation. We show that Chile has made significant progress in loss and needs assessment after disasters but gaps remain in data integration and intersectoral collaboration. Three main themes emerge from the analysis: actor coordination, social legitimacy, and administrative blindness. We conclude that while legibility tools facilitate state action, they also obscure the complexities of disasters. This case study provides further evidence that disparities in aid distribution hinder recovery efforts and that for many victims, disaster aid has been both insufficient and delayed. We provide recommendations to address these challenges and strengthen disaster risk management policies in Chile and other countries facing similar challenges.
Suggested Citation
Katherine Campos & Magdalena Gil, 2025.
"State Legibility and Disaster Management in Chile: Strengths, Challenges, and Lessons for Public Policy,"
Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-28, April.
Handle:
RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:9:p:3917-:d:1643345
Download full text from publisher
Corrections
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:9:p:3917-:d:1643345. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through
the various RePEc services.