Fragments of disaster: vulnerability, power and resistance in the 2023 Eastern Libyan floods

Smith, Harry 2025. Fragments of disaster: vulnerability, power and resistance in the 2023 Eastern Libyan floods. Agoriad 2 (1) 10.18573/agoriad.33

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Abstract

This article builds on contemporary assemblage theory in human geography and disaster risk management to analyse Storm Daniel and the 2023 Eastern Libyan Floods. It conceptually synthesises McFarlane’s (2021) notion of fragments with the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Assemblage framework developed by Donovan (2017) to explore the lived experiences of disaster. The study draws on qualitative data, defined as the fragments of disaster, including humanitarian reports, eyewitness accounts, interviews, news media, images, and local literature—the broken and discarded remnants of catastrophe. The three primary fragments analysed are Mustafa al Trabelsi’s poem The Rain, a political narrative from Eastern Libyan authorities, and humanitarian fieldwork following the disaster. These fragments are thematically analysed across three relational domains within the DRM Assemblage of governance and vulnerability, hazards and expertise, and values and ideologies. The findings reveal the disaster as a complex, multi-layered event produced through the convergence of environmental vulnerability, state failure, and historical marginalisation. Ultimately, the study shows how a fragment-based approach makes visible the resistances and power struggles that continue to shape disaster response and recovery in Eastern Libya, offering a bottom-up lens into the contested politics of disaster causation and justice. Mae'r erthygl hon yn ychwanegu at ddamcaniaeth cydosod gyfoes ym maes daearyddiaeth ddynol a rheoli’r risg o drychineb i ddadansoddi Storm Daniel a llifogydd dwyrain Libya yn 2023. Mae'n dod â chysyniad McFarlane (2021) am ddernynnau ynghyd yn gysyniadol â fframwaith Cydosod Rheoli’r Risg o Drychineb (DRM) a ddatblygwyd gan Donovan (2017) i fynd i’r afael â phrofiadau byw o drychineb. Mae'r astudiaeth yn defnyddio data ansoddol, a ddiffinnir yn ddernynnau trychineb, gan gynnwys adroddiadau dyngarol, adroddiadau gan lygad-dystion, cyfweliadau, cyfryngau newyddion, delweddau a llenyddiaeth leol — gweddillion trychineb sydd ar chwâl a'u lluchio i’r neilltu. Y tri phrif ddarnau a ddadansoddir yw cerdd Mustafa al Trabelsi ‘The Rain’, naratif wleidyddol gan awdurdodau dwyrain Libya, a gwaith maes dyngarol ar ôl y drychineb. Dadansoddir y darnau hyn yn thematig mewn tri pharth cysylltiedig yn fframwaith Cydosod DRM, sef llywodraethu, bregusrwydd, peryglon ac arbenigedd, gwerthoedd ac ideolegau. Mae'r canfyddiadau'n cyfleu'r drychineb yn ddigwyddiad cymhleth, amlhaenog a grëwyd ar ôl i fregusrwydd amgylcheddol, methiant y wladwriaeth ac ymylu hanesyddol gyfuno â’i gilydd. Yn y pen draw, dengys yr astudiaeth sut mae dull sy'n defnyddio dernynnau yn amlygu’r gwrthwynebu a'r brwydro dros rym sy'n parhau i lywio ymatebion i drychinebu ac adfer yn nwyrain Libya, gan gynnig cipolwg ar wleidyddiaeth gynhennus achosion a chyfiawnder trychineb, a hynny o’r gwaelod i fyny.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2976-8578
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	9 December 2025
Date of Acceptance:	4 August 2025
Last Modified:	09 Dec 2025 13:53
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183049

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