IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/nathaz/v58y2011i2p621-643.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A comparative analysis of several vulnerability concepts

Author

Listed:
  • Gabi Hufschmidt

Abstract

A comparative analysis of six vulnerability models aims to identify differences and similarities between several approaches towards understanding vulnerability. The analysis yields a set of characteristics for explaining the condition of vulnerability (multiple contexts, multiple dimensions, temporal variability, multiple scales and scale-interdependency). In addition, ‘adaptation’ and ‘adaptive capacity’ are identified as key elements of vulnerability. The results of the analysis are put into a wider context not only of vulnerability but also of resilience and risk research. It is demonstrated that ‘adaptation’ and ‘adaptive capacity’ serve as hinges not only for conceptualising vulnerability but between ‘vulnerability’ and ‘resilience’ alike. Based on the results of the comparative analysis, a model of vulnerability focussing on the household and community scale is developed, which displays the key findings of this work. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Suggested Citation

  • Gabi Hufschmidt, 2011. "A comparative analysis of several vulnerability concepts," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 58(2), pages 621-643, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:58:y:2011:i:2:p:621-643
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-011-9823-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11069-011-9823-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11069-011-9823-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:idb:brikps:publication-detail,7101.html?id=68568 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Branden B. Johnson, 2002. "Gender and Race in Beliefs about Outdoor Air Pollution," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(4), pages 725-738, August.
    3. Mark Pelling, 1998. "Participation, social capital and vulnerability to urban flooding in Guyana," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(4), pages 469-486.
    4. Michael Siegrist, 2003. "Perception of gene technology, and food risks: results of a survey in Switzerland," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 45-60, January.
    5. James Risbey & Milind Kandlikar & Hadi Dowlatabadi & Dean Graetz, 1999. "Scale, context, and decision making in agricultural adaptation to climate variability and change," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 137-165, June.
    6. Barry Smit & Ian Burton & Richard Klein & J. Wandel, 2000. "An Anatomy of Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 223-251, April.
    7. Sarah Bradshaw, 2002. "Exploring the gender dimensions of reconstruction processes post-hurricane Mitch," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(6), pages 871-879.
    8. M. Papathoma-Köhle & M. Kappes & M. Keiler & T. Glade, 2011. "Physical vulnerability assessment for alpine hazards: state of the art and future needs," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 58(2), pages 645-680, August.
    9. Susan L. Cutter & Bryan J. Boruff & W. Lynn Shirley, 2003. "Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 84(2), pages 242-261, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yongdeng Lei & Jing’ai Wang & Yaojie Yue & Hongjian Zhou & Weixia Yin, 2014. "Rethinking the relationships of vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation from a disaster risk perspective," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 70(1), pages 609-627, January.
    2. Kamaldeen Mohammed & Evans Batung & Moses Kansanga & Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong & Isaac Luginaah, 2021. "Livelihood diversification strategies and resilience to climate change in semi-arid northern Ghana," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1-23, February.
    3. Aparna Kumari & Tim G. Frazier, 2021. "Evaluating social capital in emergency and disaster management and hazards plans," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 109(1), pages 949-973, October.
    4. Stefan Kienberger & Thomas Blaschke & Rukhe Zaidi, 2013. "A framework for spatio-temporal scales and concepts from different disciplines: the ‘vulnerability cube’," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 68(3), pages 1343-1369, September.
    5. Mohammad Abdul Quader & Amanat Ullah Khan & Matthieu Kervyn, 2017. "Assessing Risks from Cyclones for Human Lives and Livelihoods in the Coastal Region of Bangladesh," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-26, July.
    6. J. Birkmann & O. Cardona & M. Carreño & A. Barbat & M. Pelling & S. Schneiderbauer & S. Kienberger & M. Keiler & D. Alexander & P. Zeil & T. Welle, 2013. "Framing vulnerability, risk and societal responses: the MOVE framework," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 67(2), pages 193-211, June.
    7. Tahereh Zobeidi & Jafar Yaghoubi & Masoud Yazdanpanah, 2022. "Developing a paradigm model for the analysis of farmers' adaptation to water scarcity," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 5400-5425, April.
    8. Kuan-Hui Lin & Chang-Yi Chang, 2013. "Everyday crises," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, January.
    9. Paavola, Jouni & Adger, W. Neil, 2006. "Fair adaptation to climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 594-609, April.
    10. Huicong Jia & Fang Chen & Enyu Du, 2021. "Adaptation to Disaster Risk—An Overview," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-21, October.
    11. Irfan Ahmad Rana & Jayant K. Routray, 2018. "Integrated methodology for flood risk assessment and application in urban communities of Pakistan," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 91(1), pages 239-266, March.
    12. Kuan-Hui Elaine Lin & Hsiang-Chieh Lee & Thung-Hong Lin, 2017. "How does resilience matter? An empirical verification of the relationships between resilience and vulnerability," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 88(2), pages 1229-1250, September.
    13. R. L. Ciurean & H. Hussin & C. J. Westen & M. Jaboyedoff & P. Nicolet & L. Chen & S. Frigerio & T. Glade, 2017. "Multi-scale debris flow vulnerability assessment and direct loss estimation of buildings in the Eastern Italian Alps," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 85(2), pages 929-957, January.
    14. Stephen Schneider & William Easterling & Linda Mearns, 2000. "Adaptation: Sensitivity to Natural Variability, Agent Assumptions and Dynamic Climate Changes," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 203-221, April.
    15. Mark Pelling & Chris High & John Dearing & Denis Smith, 2008. "Shadow Spaces for Social Learning: A Relational Understanding of Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change within Organisations," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(4), pages 867-884, April.
    16. M. Silva & S. Pereira, 2014. "Assessment of physical vulnerability and potential losses of buildings due to shallow slides," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 72(2), pages 1029-1050, June.
    17. Qiangsheng Hu & Xiaorong He, 2018. "An Integrated Approach to Evaluate Urban Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    18. Nina Graveline & Marine Gremont, 2017. "Measuring and understanding the microeconomic resilience of businesses to lifeline service interruptions due to natural disasters," Post-Print hal-01631780, HAL.
    19. Fischer, Alexandra Paige, 2018. "Pathways of adaptation to external stressors in coastal natural-resource-dependent communities: Implications for climate change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 235-248.
    20. Konstantinos Karagiorgos & Micha Heiser & Thomas Thaler & Johannes Hübl & Sven Fuchs, 2016. "Micro-sized enterprises: vulnerability to flash floods," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 84(2), pages 1091-1107, November.

    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:spr:nathaz:v:58:y:2011:i:2:p:621-643. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.