Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Differential Vulnerability To Debris Flow Hazard In Two High Mountain Communities Of The Karakoram Himalaya, Northern Pakistan, Shauna Flanagan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis presents the findings of a comparative study of vulnerability, coping and risk-averting strategies and social responses to environmental hazards, particularly debris flow and flooding hazards, in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Two small village-scale settlements, the prevailing form of community in the region, were selected as case studies and are described in detail. The villages exhibit a comparable subsistence agro-pastoral economy and socio-cultural organization reflecting similarities in environmental opportunities and constraints, historical processes and religious beliefs. However, they differ greatly in their proximity to commercial centres and in the rate at which modernization processes are being introduced and …