Improved technologies, increases in global demand for metals, and lax environmental policies and regulations are causing a shift of large-scale mining activities to the tropics. This shift of mining to the tropics has the potential to modify natural ecosystems and disrupt the social structures of rural and indigenous peoples in some of the most remote areas of the planet. This thesis encompasses research done in two villages of Guyana's Essequibo River basin after the 1995 Omai cyanide spill, and illustrates the local social consequences of a large-scale gold mining operation in the tropics. It documents not only the degradation of the local river ecology, but also the changes in local people's perceptions of their environment. That environment, once viewed as pristine, is now viewed as unsafe, leading to disrupted livelihoods and lifestyles. The finding of this study points to a direct link between international economic liberalization policies (which emphasize privatization, foreign direct investment, and economic growth) and the creation of disaster circumstances in developing countries. This thesis research is the result of a total of ten weeks of participant observer research in the area of the Essequibo River, Guyana. It utilizes the methodology of taped interviews of head-of-households. Interviews were conducted with approximately 85 percent of heads-of household of the villages of Rockstone and Riversview. Additionally, interviews were conducted with national and regional governmental officials, regional health officials, local and indigenous leaders, personnel of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency in Guyana. Interviews were supplemented with archival research. The findings of this thesis research closely mirror those of other researchers who contend that the social impacts of technological disasters are long-term and more severe than those related to natural disasters. Seven years after the cyanide spill, disruptions in livelihood activities, diet, and household behaviors continued to be evident in the two villages. There is little indication that the high negative perceptions of the villagers as a result of the disaster will change in the near future. The research found that macroeconomic policies, crafted by national governments and overseen by international financial institutions without the involvement of local citizenry, disproportionately affected the poor and rural populations through the degradation of local ecosystems. The thesis also illustrates the usefulness of ethnographic research-in particular, interviews in disaster studies of developing countries. / Master of Science

Winter Storm Uri damaged parts of the United States, Mexico, and Canada in February of 2021. The State of Texas was heavily affected due to the institutional failure of Texas's primary power provider, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Despite similar previous storms that exposed weaknesses in the state's power grid system in 1999 and 2011, ERCOT did not make the necessary changes to prevent a future disaster. The purpose of this study is to advance the understanding of the concept of recreancy through the exploration of eight different dimensions of the concept: trust or distrust in institutions; institutional responsibility for disaster preparedness; responsibility for impacts of a disaster; effectiveness or ineffectiveness of institutions in responding to a disaster; an institution's capability of preventing a similar event in the future; an institution's willingness to make changes in their actions or behavior; confidence that an institution will prevent a similar event in the future; and responsibility for compensation for impacts of a disaster. To examine the composition of the concept of recreancy, I analyzed survey data collected in Texas during April and May of 2022. I aggregated and coded survey data according to the level respondents reported to agree with the survey indicators measuring dimensions of recreancy. I utilized Confirmatory Factor Analysis to analyze if the derived dimensions of recreancy measure recreancy, and if some are more salient than others. Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed variability in the importance of different dimensions of recreancy, suggesting that some dimensions are more salient than others in shaping residents' perceptions of recreancy in the context of Winter Storm Uri. Further analysis revealed a preliminary model to operationalize recreancy, however further analysis is needed. / Master of Science / In February 2021, Winter Storm Uri devasted regions of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The state of Texas experienced significant storm impacts due to the failure of its primary power provider, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). ERCOT is responsible for overseeing and managing the state's power grid. Similar storms in 1999 and 2011 revealed weaknesses in the power grid's infrastructure—state officials mandated but did not require weatherization precautions to prevent future grid failures. ERCOT did not implement the suggested changes and the power grid failure during Winter Storm Uri left millions of Texas residents without access to power, heat, water, and other necessary services. This thesis explores residents' perceptions of ERCOT's institutional failure—recreancy—and aims to understand the concept of recreancy through the examination of eight dimensions: trust or distrust in institutions; institutional responsibility for disaster preparedness; responsibility for impacts of a disaster; effectiveness or ineffectiveness of institutions in responding to a disaster; an institution's capability of preventing a similar event in the future; an institution's willingness to make changes in their actions or behavior; confidence that an institution will prevent a similar event in the future; and responsibility for compensation for impacts of a disaster. I analyzed survey respondents' levels of agreement with each dimension and utilized Confirmatory Factor Analysis to assess the relative importance of the dimensions and if they accurately capture recreancy.

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2016-07-15T16:34:56Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação.pdf: 1712072 bytes, checksum: 3d39945997a8f7b46f9a4c77600b922a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-15T16:34:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação.pdf: 1712072 bytes, checksum: 3d39945997a8f7b46f9a4c77600b922a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-11 / FACEPE / Os grandes impactos causados pela ocorrência dos eventos naturais em plantas industriais em todo o mundo tem feito com que este campo de estudo ganhe destaque nos últimos anos dado as perdas financeiras, humanas e ambientais que este tipo de evento pode acarretar. Os eventos provenientes de desastres naturais que proporcionam desastres tecnológicos são conhecidos como desastres/eventos Natech. Os eventos Natech apesar da baixa probabilidade de ocorrência apresentam grandes impactos e um nível de complexidade superior ao encontrado no gerenciamento de desastres naturais ou tecnológicos. Devido à necessidade de gerir vários tipos de riscos e dada a natureza finita dos recursos é necessário priorizar os riscos mais elevados e para auxiliar nessa análise dos riscos, é fundamental a utilização de ferramentas e metodologias que proporcionarão uma melhor compreensão dos desastres/eventos Natech. Neste sentido, é realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura (Systematic Literature Review – SLR) sobre eventos Natech, levando em conta especificamente, trabalhos publicados em periódicos científicos. Vários tipos de classificações dos dados analisados são apresentados neste trabalho com o intuito de prover informação mais detalhada acerca de aspectos considerados no estudo. Esta pesquisa identificou a frequência de publicações dos eventos Natech, as revistas científicas e instituições que mais contribuíram sobre tema e os tipos de desastres naturais e setores da indústria mais abordados nos trabalhos avaliados, como também os tipos de ferramentas e metodologias utilizadas no gerenciamento destes riscos provendo informações relevantes para análises futuras e contribuindo para elucidação acerca do tema para a sociedade. / The great impacts caused by the occurrence of natural events in industrial plants around the world have made this field of study to gain prominence in recent years given the financial, human and environmental losses that this type of event can bring. The events arising from natural disasters that provide technological disasters are known as Natech disaster/events. The Natech events in spite of low probability of occurrence have large impacts and a higher level of complexity to that found in the management of natural and technological disasters. Due to the need to manage several types of risk and given the finite nature of resources is necessary to prioritize the higher risks and to assist in the analysis of the risks, it is essential to use tools and methodologies that will provide a better understanding of Natech disasters/events. In this sense, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is performed on Natech events, taking into account specifically, papers published in scientific journals. Several types of classifications of the analyzed data is presented this work in order to provide more detailed information about aspects considered in the study. This research has identified the frequency of publications of Natech events, scientific magazines and institutions that contributed to the theme and the types of natural disasters and industry sectors most discussed in this work, as well as the types of tools and methodologies used in the management of these risk giving relevant information for further analysis and contributing to elucidate the subject for society.

The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico awakened communities to the increased risk of large-scale damage along their coastlines presented by new technology in deep water drilling. Normal accident theory and high reliability theory offer a framework through which to view the 2010 spill that features predictive criteria linked to a qualitative assessment of risk presented by technology and organizations. The 2010 spill took place in a sociotechnical system that can be described as complex and tightly coupled, and therefore prone to normal accidents. However, the entities in charge of managing this technology lacked the organizational capacity to safely operate within this sociotechnical system.