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The impact of legal vulnerability on environmental
inequalities. A case study of coastal populations in
Guadeloupe (French Antilles)
Cécilia Claeys, Cé Cilia Claeys, Marie-Laure Lambert, Aurélie Arnaud
To cite this version:
Cécilia Claeys, Cé Cilia Claeys, Marie-Laure Lambert, Aurélie Arnaud.
The impact of legal
vulnerability on environmental inequalities.
A case study of coastal populations in Guadeloupe
(French Antilles). Comptes Rendus Géoscience, Elsevier Masson, 2017, 349 (6-7), pp.351 - 358.
�10.1016/j.crte.2017.09.006�. �hal-01768725�
External
Geophysics,
Climate
and
Environment
The
impact
of
legal
vulnerability
on
environmental
inequalities.
A
case
study
of
coastal
populations
in
Guadeloupe
(French
Antilles)
Ce´cilia
Claeys
a,*
,
Aure´lie
Arnaud
b,
Marie-Laure
Lambert
ba
LPED,Laboratoire‘‘PopulationEnvironnementDe´veloppement’’,CentreSaint-Charles,case10,Aix-MarseilleUniversity,3,place Victor-Hugo,13331Marseillecedex03,France
b
LIEU,Laboratoireinterdisciplinaire‘‘EnvironnementetUrbanisme’’,Aix-MarseilleUniversity,3,avenueRobert-Schuman,13100 Aix-en-Provence,France
1. Introduction
Thispaperdrawsonsociology,geographyandlawto provideaninterdisciplinaryanalysisofhowexposureto naturalhazardsintersectswithsocialvulnerabilities.We examine theexposure of populations tocoastal natural hazards in a postcolonial and overseas context. Our research is based on a case study conducted in two
municipalitiesinGuadeloupe(FrenchAntilles):Deshaies andCapesterre-Belle-Eau(CPE),respectivelyonthewest and east coast of the island of Basse-Terre, and both exposedtomultiplecoastalhazards(Fig.1).
Thequestionunderpinningthisarticleisthefollowing: whichfactorsaggravatethesocio-environmental vulnera-bilityofcoastalpopulationsdespitetheimplementationof well-intendedpublicpolicies?Ourmainfocusisonlegal vulnerability,whichtendstofurtherencompassothertypes of vulnerability. Legal vulnerability may result from historical legacy and/or contemporary processes. It has twodimensionsthatareinterrelated:
ARTICLE INFO
Articlehistory:
Received22September2017
Receivedinrevisedform24September2017 Acceptedafterrevision24September2017
HandledbyIsabelleManighetti, RutgerDeWit,Ste´phanieDuvail, andPatrickSeyler
Keywords: Coastalhazards Environmentalinequalities Legalvulnerability Postcolonialism Postslavery Guadeloupe Interdisciplinary ABSTRACT
Thispaperdrawsonsociology,geographyandlawtoanalysetheexposureofpopulations tocoastalmultihazardsinapostcolonialandoverseascontext.Theresearchisbasedona casestudyconductedintwomunicipalitiesinGuadeloupe(FrenchAntilles):Deshaiesand Capesterre-Belle-Eau. The corpus of data consists of 52 interviews conducted with inhabitantsandinstitutionalactors,aswellasasetofspatializeddataandaregulatory corpus. Theanalysis underscores howpublic policies must contendwith a complex territorialreality thatisstill boundto thepostcolonialpastandlegacyofslavery in Guadeloupe. The potential contradictions between regularization policies, hazard preventionpoliciesandpoliciestocurbinsalubrioushousingtendtoexposethemost fragilepopulationstowhatwerefertohereaslegalvulnerability.
C 2017PublishedbyElsevierMassonSASonbehalfofAcade´miedessciences.
* Correspondingauthor.
E-mailaddress:cecilia.claeys@univ-amu.fr(C.Claeys).
ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirect
Comptes
Rendus
Geoscience
w ww . sc i e nce d i re ct . co m
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2017.09.006
accesstolegaltoolsandinformation,their understand-ingandhandling;
the legal situation of individuals and their assets (occupation without right or entitlement, involuntary detention of a fraudulent property title, inability to provide proof that would allow a situation to be legalized, presence on the territory without a stay document,undeclaredprofessionalactivity,etc.).
Our research is conceived within the analytical framework of environmental inequality. The notion of environmentalinequalitydesignatessituations inwhich environmentalvulnerabilities(exposuretoenvironmental hazardsorinaccessibilitytoenvironmentalamenities)and social vulnerabilities are compounded (Taylor, 2000). Previous research has shown that a large array of interacting economic, social, cultural and ethno-racial factorsareboundupinthenotionofsocialvulnerability, andsuchfactorstendtoreinforceeachotherincontextsof environmental inequality (Adeola, 2001; Bullard, 1993). Coastalenvironmentalinequalitiesoccurwhenthe popu-lationsmostexposedtonaturalhazardsarealsothemost socially vulnerable (Mavromatidi et al., 2017). Coastal urbanizationhasdramaticallyincreasedaroundtheworld, thus exposing more and more populations to natural hazards (IPCC, 2014). Research has further shown that postcolonialcontextstendtobesubjecttoenvironmental
inequalities in general and to coastal environmental inequalitiesmorespecifically(JonahandKofiAdu-Boahen, 2016;Licuananetal.,2015).
2. Context
As a colonial settlement,Guadeloupe was organized aroundplantations,withpreferencegiventotheplateaus of Grande Terre and the fertile volcanic land on the peripheryofBasse-Terre(Sainton,2012).In1674,anedict byKingLouisXIVofFrancedeclaredthatthecoastalzone oftheFrenchAntilleswasthepropertyoftheStateand couldnotbebuilt-upalongastripthatran81.20meters inland.Theroleofthese‘‘50StepsoftheKing’’1wasto facilitatemilitarydefence,trafficflowsandaccesstothe sea for fishing as well as for commercial and artisanal activities (Chadenas et al., 2016; Constant-Pujar, 2011; Dufau,1990).Thelatterweregroupedtogetherinmarket townsthatlongremainedactiveindaytimebutwerenot commonlyplacesofresidence(Sainton,2015).
Fig.1. Mapofthefieldworksites.
1This legaltermwasdefined in1681by theMarineCodeunder
Colbert:‘‘Shallbeconsideredseashoreandbeachallthatiscoveredand uncoveredduringthenewandfullmoons,andthepointuptowhichthe high tide of March extends on the shore’’ (Constant-Pujar, 2011, translatedhere).
C.Claeysetal./C.R.Geoscience349(2017)351–358 352
Thedefinitiveabolitionofslavery(Schoelcherdecreeof 27 April 1848) was a historic date in several respects, includingforlandoccupation.Ultimately,anon-negligible shareofnewlyfreedslaveshadnochoicebuttoremainon the plantations in exchange for an unattractive work contract.Otherswereinsteadabletosettleintownsand villages.Somewereabletopurchaseaplotoflandtofarm (Buttel, 2007), while others moved onto vacant land, ravinesand coastal areaswithoutright orentitlement– includingalongthe‘‘50StepsoftheKing’’(Brissac,2011). The arrival of inhabitants in the 50 Steps zone was tolerated by public authorities at the time and even encouraged by plantation owners who, having not received all thecompensation promised for the loss of theirslaves,werequiteunwillingtotoleratethepresence ofnewlyfreedslavesontheirplantationsifthelatterwere no longer working. Successive agricultural crises and subsequent rural exoduses – which culminated in the declineofthesugarindustryinthelate20thcentury–led new and extremely poor populations to occupycoastal areas withoutright orentitlement (Burner,2015; Priet, 1997). Policies to regularize illegal occupations on the coastwerefirstinitiatedinthe19thcentury.Thedecreeof 21June1882enabledthegrantingof‘‘permanentand non-transferable’’propertytitlestotheoccupantsofbuiltlots. Thedecreeremainedineffectuntilthemid-20thcentury, althoughitdidnotdomuchtochangethesituation.The decreeof30June1955turnedthe50Stepszoneinto state-ownedland,thusallowingtheStatetoformallyselllotsto their occupants. Occupantswiththe mostfinancial and cultural capital benefited more than others from such opportunities for regularization. Thislast large wave of regularizationinthedecadesprecedingthecoastallawof 1986appearstohavebeenparticularlyadvantageousfor newbeachresorts,mostlyconcentratedalongthecoastof Guadeloupe’sGrande-Terre.
The coastal law of 1986 sought to end the rapidly expanding urbanization of coastal areas. When it was drafted, the legislator introduced a chapter directly focused on France’s overseas areas, thus specifically consideringthehistoricallegacy,economic vulnerability and geographical constraints of the country’s overseas departments.MarinePublicPropertyinGuadeloupeisas suchdefinedasthelandcoveredbyterritorialwatersin addition to ‘‘dry’’ public property of a depth of 81.20 meters,thus corresponding tothe‘‘50 Geometric Steps’’.The50Stepszoneisthereforeprotectedthrough bothitsinabilitytobebuilt-upoutsideofurbanareasand byitslabellingasinalienablepublicland.Moreover,the implementing orderof 13 October 19892 relatedtothe 50 Stepszone authorized the State togive away some already occupiedbuiltlandundercertainconditions.To coordinate theseregularization procedures,the‘‘Agence des50 Pasge´ome´triques’’(‘‘50GeometricStepAgency’’) wascreatedin1996.3
3. Materialandmethods
The twoareasstudiedhere wereselected basedon their environmental and social characteristics. Both municipalities are subject to comparable types of hazards.In additionto flooding,mass movementsand volcanism,4 bothare exposed to earthquakes; someof themcan cause tsunamis and soil liquefaction (Burac, 1999;Mompelatetal.,2011).Therainyseasonisfurther subjecttostormsandevenhurricanesthatresultinat timesverystrongcyclonicswell(D’Erocle,1995; Desar-the,2014;Pagney-Benito-Espinaletal.,2002)andhavea markedimpactoncoastalerosioninsomeplaces(BRGM, 2010).Thetwoareasstudieddiffer,however,intermsof their socio-economic makeup, touristic appeal and governance. Indeed, tourism is extremely limited in Capesterre-Belle-Eau and concerns mainly a French Antilles-based clientele. Conversely, although Deshaies isquitefarfromthelargeandprestigiousresorttownsof the archipelago, it nevertheless has a non-negligible tourism-basedeconomy,withadozenhotels(thereare noneinCapesterre-Belle-Eau)and34.5%holidayhomes (versus3%inCapesterre-Belle-Eau).Finally,the munici-palities of Deshaies and Capesterre-Belle-Eau differ in theirlocalpolicyapproachtocoastalhazardprevention: whileonehasaproactiveapproach,theotherismiredin inertia(Fig.1).
Theinterdisciplinarycorpusofdatausedinouranalysis consistsof52interviewsconductedwithinhabitantsofthe areasmanagedby the‘‘Agence des 50 Pas’’agencyand institutionalactors(Table1),5aswellasasetofspatialized data (physical, regulatory and socio-economic data), a regulatoryandjurisprudentialcorpus.
The sample selected for the interviews considered the socio-economicand ethno-phenotypicdiversity of inhabitantsinthezonesstudiedontheone hand,and thearrayofcompetentinstitutionalactorsinboth the municipalitiesstudiedontheotherhand.Theinterview gridscombinedquestionsfrom threedisciplines (soci-ology, geography and law) and the questions were adapted to the type of interviewee (inhabitant or institutional actor). In the contextof this article, our analysiswill focus moreparticularly on the following topics:
Forinhabitants:theirresidentialhistoryandthehistory oftheir currenthome,thestatusoftheirdwellingand any procedures undertaken to regularize it, their attachmenttothelocationandtotheirresidenceitself, andtheirsocio-economic,culturalandfamilysituation; For institutional actors: the involvement of their institution in managing the Guadeloupean coast and its position in relation to the other institutions involved, their professional experience regarding the
2
CodeGe´ne´raldelaProprie´te´ desPersonnesPubliques,art.R.5112-2 andsubsequent.
3
Law#96-1241of30December1996ontheplanning,protectionand developmentofsuchareas.
4LaGrandeSoufrie`reisanactive,1467m-highvolcanolocatedinthe
municipalityofCapesterre-Belle-Eau.ThetownofCapesterre-Belle-Eauis directlyexposedtolavaflow, whereasDeshaies,liketherestofthe archipelago,isexposedtovolcanicashfall.
5
Thesurveyalsoincluded4interviewswitheconomicactors,butthis partofthecorpuswasnotusedinthecontextofthisarticle.
Guadeloupeancoastandtheirpersonalopinion regard-ingmanagementoftheGuadeloupeancoast.
Theinterviewswerefullyrecorded6 andtranscribed. They underwent manual thematic division in order to conductdiscourseanalysis.7
To date, the socio-economic data generated by the ‘‘Agencedes50Pasge´ome´triques’’aretheonlystatistics specifically available for the coastal zones of the two municipalities.8Theyprovideaninitiallevelofinstructive information,althoughit is neverthelessincomplete.The heterogeneityofthedatadoesnotallowforasystematic comparisonofalldistricts.Inthecontextofthisarticle,we drawon the first statistically exploitabledata obtained through a homogenization process that involved the selection and preparation of variables common toboth districts.Thisdatasetcoverstwoneighbourhoods,Rifflet in Deshaies and Sainte-Marie in Capesterre-Belle-Eau (Fig.1). Thedataaspiretobecomplete:theypertain to 30 occupied lots (primarily homes)in the Sainte-Marie neighbourhoodand85intheRiffletneighbourhood.
Finally,fromalegalperspective,ouranalysisfocuseson theapplication of national legal regimesrelated to the coastandthemanagementofhazards,andonregulations specific to France’s Overseas Departments, based on specificcasesofassetspresentinthe‘‘50Steps’’zonein themunicipalitiesofDeshaiesandCapesterre.
4. Results
Thecoloniallegacyisstillvisibleinthegenerallayoutof landuseonBasse-Terreisland:wealthyneighbourhoods aremainly locatedon hillsoverlooking thesea;middle classdistricts aremainlyin theintermediaryzone;and poordistrictsareconcentratedalongtheseafront(Brissac, 2011).Despitepoliciestoencouragetheregularizationof buildings without a property title, a clear majority of inhabitantsinthe50Stepszonestillillegallyinhabittheir homes.The‘‘Agencedes50Pas’’estimatesthatthereare 10,000 buildings along the 50 Steps strip. To present, 5800applicationsforregularizationhavebeensubmitted, but only abouthalf have beenacceptedby the agency.
There are several factors behind the complexity of situationsinthefieldandtherandomnatureofproperty regularizations in the coastal zones managed by the ‘‘Agencedes50Pas’’inGuadeloupe.
Economic factors.Theillegaloccupationofthispublic landhasbeentoleratedandfreeofchargeforinhabitants, whereastheregularizationprocessandtheworknecessary tocomplywithurbanandsanitarynormscomeswitha direct or indirect cost for inhabitants. In the case of regularization,inhabitantsmustfirstpayalandsurveyor andthenpurchasetheland,grantedforasmallamount. Whenneighbourhoodsaredevelopedbythe‘‘Agencedes 50Pas’’,inhabitantsmustpaytoensuretheprovisionof servicestotheirland,meaningtheypaytohavethehouse connectedtourbannetworks(runningwater,sanitation, etc.).Finally,inthecaseofassignment,byofficialisingtheir status, inhabitants become homeowners and are thus requiredtopayamortgage,aswellaspropertyandcouncil taxes. These procedures as such represent a cost for inhabitants–onethatistoomuchformanypoorpeoplein the50GeometricStepszone.Inthetwoneighbourhoods forwhichwehavestatisticaldata,thereisaparticularly highpercentageofpoorinhabitants.Forty-sevenpercent ofhouseholdsin Sainte-Marieand 55%ofhouseholdsin RifflethaveamonthlyincomeoflessthanEUR1000.The averagemonthlyincomeforthemunicipalityofDeshaies asawholeisEUR1374.ItisEUR1025in Capesterre-Belle-Eau9andEUR2063forallofFrance.10Similarly,relocation procedures for those most at risk can represent an economic loss for inhabitants since theindemnification measures available are not adapted to squatters or to erosion(Barnierfunds)andarelimitedtoEUR40,000fora homeorEUR20,000foracommercialbuildingunderthe Letchimylaw.11
Cultural and institutional factors. Regularization pro-ceduresarelongandcomplex.Theyrequireinhabitantsto fill out detailed forms in French. Creole societies are characterizedbytheirhighdegreeofdiglossiaandtheleast educated segments of the population are often less comfortable dealing with documents in French. Efforts to accompany inhabitants and simplify procedures are
Table1
Type,numberanddurationoftheinterviewsconductedwithinhabitantsandinstitutionalactors.
Municipality Interviewees Inhabitants (Semi-structured interviews) Municipal-level institutionalactors (In-depthinterviews)
Otherinstitutionalactors(Governmentdepartments, Regionalcouncil,Adem,BRGM,etc.)
(In-depthinterviews)
Capesterre-Belle-Eau 18 2 18
Deshaies 12 2
Totaldurationoftheinterviews 21hoursand30minutes 19hoursand40minutes
6
Onlyoneoftheinterviewswasnotrecordedattherequestofthe interviewee.
7 The short format of this article made it impossible to include
interviewexcerptsinthepresentationofourfindings.
8
Unlike most other French coastal territories, the gridded data providedbytheFrenchNational StatisticsInstituteforsmallspatial scales(gridsof200mofcoast)donotexistforGuadeloupe.
9
These amounts do not takeintoaccount theincome ofholiday homeownersinthesemunicipalities.
10Source:MinistryoftheEconomy.
11Law#2011-725 of 23June 2011known asthe‘‘Letchimy’’law
pertainingtospecificmeasuresfordistrictsofinformalhousingandthe fight against indecenthabitats in French overseas departments and regions,Decreeof18February2013settingthescaleforfinancialaid outlinedinarticles1,2,3and6inLaw#2011-725of23June2011. C.Claeysetal./C.R.Geoscience349(2017)351–358
offsetbyinstitutionalcoordinationissues.Thecreationof the ‘‘Agence des 50 Pas’’ added another layer to the complexadministrativesystem.Althoughcreatedtobetter address cross-sectional issues, the agency nevertheless added an additional link in the chain of pre-existing overlapand confusion betweenthe differentcompetent institutions. Moreover, the local ‘‘lakate`’’ culture often works tofurther exacerbateculturalvulnerability. ‘‘Lak: acte et te`’’ is the Creole word for a property deed. In Guadeloupe,alakate` maybeasimpleoralagreementor someothertypeofnon-officialdocument.Thismeansthat the holder is often – usually unwittingly – not in compliancewithFrenchlaw.
Regulatoryandlegalfactors.Changestothelegalcontext havefurtheraccentuatedthecomplexityofsituationsin thefield.When the‘‘Agencedes 50Pas’’wascreated in 1996,the‘‘BarnierLaw’’of199512hadjustbeenpassed;it unified pre-existing natural disaster management plan-ning tools and imposed a singletool – Natural Hazard PreventionPlans(PPRNs).Theseplansstipulatethezoning of landthat canorcannotbebuilt orthatis subjectto regulationsbasedontheestimatedhazards.Thedraftingof suchplansobviouslytooktime and,in Guadeloupe,the first PPRs were approved starting in 2007–2008. The mappingofhazardswasassuchalengthyprocedure–and the‘‘Agencedes50Pas’’hadalreadybegunits regulariza-tion mission based on its own mapping tools.13 The ‘‘BachelotLaw’’of200314furtherbolsteredtheprocessby requiring that information about potential hazards be giventobuyersandrentersoflandsubjecttoaPPR.The lawof2004onthemodernizationofemergency manage-ment created municipal safety plans through which municipalities must implement measures to alert the populationandmanagecrises.‘‘The‘‘Grenelle2Law’’15of 2010transposed the2007European Directiveon flood-ing16;itunifiedregimesrelatedtofreshwaterfloodingand coastalflooding,andplacedenvironmentalconcernsatthe forefront of hazard management approaches, now re-quiredtostriveforthe‘‘goodecologicalstatusofwater’’ outlined in the Framework Directive on water.17 The MAPTAM Law18 of 2014 led to a transfer of authority towardstheintermunicipallevelforwatermanagement, aquaticenvironmentsandfloodprevention.Furthermore, since 2015, land considered subject to ‘‘serious and predictable natural hazards that threatenhuman lives’’
can no longer be assigned.19 Given this, starting in 1996 and particularly since 201220and 2015,21 assign-ments have gradually begun to be refused in the 50GeometricStepssector,whichisclassifiedasa high-hazardzone[posingagravedangerforhumanlifeanda redzone inthePPRs (Fig.2)]. The‘‘Agence des50 Pas’’ estimatesthatthisaffects2000cases.Itthereforeappears thatbasedonthesameexposuretohazards,thetimeat whichknowledgeofsuchhazardsappearedandthelegal contextmeanthatapplicationsforassignmentaretreated differentlybasedonwhethertheyweresubmittedbefore orafterthepublicationofthePPRmaps,andbeforeorafter 2012and2015.Andyet,35%ofthezonesmanagedbythe ‘‘Agencedes50Pas’’inboththemunicipalitiesstudiedare classifiedasredzonesinthePPR(thatis,arecharacterized asveryhighrisklevel).
5. Discussion
Coastal managementin Franceis torn between local pressure to defend urban coastal areas from the sea throughheavyinfrastructureto‘‘reinforce’’thecoastline, andFrenchlegaltextsthatincreasinglyseekto:
strikeabalancebetweenurbanizationandtheprotection ofnaturalcoastalareas;
drivehazardpreventionstrategies.
ItwasnotablywinterstormXynthia(2010),itsmedia coverageand itscontentiousaftermath that accelerated the movement tothink aboutthe strategic retreat and relocation of assets and people threatened by coastal hazards.Xynthia,andtherisein coastalhazardsaround theworldmoregenerally,havecontributedtoincreased concernsamongFrenchpublicauthorities(Perherinetal., 2016). During our research, several of the institutional actorsinterviewedmentionedliabilitywhichcouldindeed potentiallyaffect:forexample,the‘‘Agencedes50Pas’’in itsroleasaconsultant;thePrefectinhisorherroleasa decision-maker22; orevenelectedofficials,sincemayors areresponsiblefor publicsafetyand draftingmunicipal safetyplans.
Whileaplannedretreatfromcoastalareasis increas-inglyconsideredbyexpertstobethemostsustainableand cost-effectiveapproach,itraisessomeserioussocialand political challenges for local governments (Abel et al., 2011; Rocle and Salles, 2017). When it comes to institutional actors, the first line of resistance is often fromlocalmunicipalities(Mineo-KleinerandMeur-Fe´rec, 2016),althoughsomehaveneverthelessrecentlyshown signsofcooperation(RocleandSalles,2017).Thisistrue 12
Law #95-101 of 2 February 1995 on improvingenvironmental protection.
13
Documentsfrompre-existingexpertreportsorthosecommissioned fromconsultants.
14Law#2003-699of30July2003onthepreventionoftechnological
andnaturalhazardsandthereparationofdamage.
15
Law #2010-788, 12 July 2010, National Commitment for the Environment.
16
Directive#2007/60/CEoftheEuropeanParliamentandoftheCouncil of23October2007ontheassessmentandmanagementoffloodrisks.
17
Directive2000/60/CEoftheEuropeanParliamentandoftheCouncil of23October2000outliningaframeworkforapoliticalcommunityinthe fieldofwater.
18
Law#2014-58of27January2014ontheModernizationofTerritorial Public ActionandtheAffirmationofMetropolitan Areas (MAPTAM), modifiedbytheLawontheNewTerritorialOrganizationoftheRepublic (NOTRe)on7August2015.
19
Law#2015-1268of14October2015ontherenewalofoverseaslaw, CGPPPartL5112-5.
20LetterfromtheDirectorateofLegalAffairson17September2012,and
attherequestofthePrefectureofGuadeloupe.
21
Law#2015-1268of14October2015ontherenewalofoverseaslaw.
22
ThePrefect(‘‘Pre´fet’’)is theseniorcivilservantrepresenting the executive branch of governmentin each of France’s administrative departments(‘‘de´partements’’).
for the municipality of Deshaies, although not for Capesterre-Belle-Eau.
InCapesterre-Belle-Eau,themunicipalityhasfocused itseffortson urbanplanningin thecentreof thetown, whichhasaroadandcoastalpromenadeprotectedbya breakwaterbehindwhichareseveralhousingcomplexes. Thisrenovationworkwasundertakenbasedonplanningin favourofhardeningthecoastline.Realefforthasalsobeen putintosocialhousing.Afewotherneighbourhoodswere alsothefocusofpartialplanningefforts,likethepedestrian roadwaybuiltinthePoudrie`redistrict,partofwhichhas sincebeendestroyedbycoastalerosion.Other neighbou-rhoods remain in their original state and illegal land occupation has often occurred with tacit or explicit consent from elected officials. Inhabitants are as such subject tocontradictory discourse in theform of orally granted municipal permission on the one hand and nationalpoliciesaimedatlegalizationand relocationon theotherhand.Thedecision-makers,weinterviewedfrom thismunicipality,expressedgrowingconcernaboutbeing held criminally responsible. And yet, a certain inertia nonethelessprevails.
ThemunicipalteaminDeshaieshasshownanimpressive desiretoseizeonthenationallegalframeworktomanageits coast. When cyclone Lenny struck in 1999, a relocation project for inhabitants in the Ferry district was already underway,albeititfacedresistancefromlocalinhabitants. Whenthedistrictwasparticularlyravagedbythecyclone, the last bastions of resistance were destroyed alongside manyhomes.Inhabitantsthenagreedtoberelocatedtoa
newneighbourhood(Leroux),furtherawayfromthecoast.23 InRifflet,revegetationofthesandyzonewasundertakenand anaccessroadandcarparkequippedwithecopassagesfor turtleswerebuilt.Inotherneighbourhoods,themunicipality hasoptedtoallowcertaininhabitantsorsmallbusinesses (towncentre)toremaininplace.
Suchvoluntarypolicieshaveneverthelessencountered resistancefrominhabitants.Duringourinterviews, inha-bitants in both municipalities expressed their strong attachment to their place of residence. While similar phenomenahavebeenobservedinotherpartsofFrance (Andre´ etal.,2015;Meur-Ferecetal.,2008),itsrootsare historicalinGuadeloupe.Indeed,theoccupationovertime oftheGuadeloupeancoastbypoorpopulationswasalmost alwaysachoice‘‘bydefault’’.Theplotsoflandwherenewly freedslavesbuilttheirCreolehutshaveneverthelessbeen thesubjectofgreatphysicalandsymbolicappropriation. TheCreole gardenssurroundingsuchhutsnourish,heal and protect (Benoıˆt, 2002); similarly, thesea and shore provideadditionalfoodthroughfishing24andthetrapping
Fig.2.ExcerptfromtheCapesterre-Belle-EauPPRN.
23
Dwellingsinthisnewneighbourhoodaresmalleranddenserthanin theneighbourhoodthatwasdestroyed.Theinhabitantswemetstated thatthisrelocationhasresultedinaweakeninginties ofsolidarity comparedtotheoriginalneighbourhoodandtoalossofadditionalfood sourcesfromtheirformergardens,aphenomenonalsoobservedinother cases(Burner,2015).
24
Eventhoughfishingisofficiallybannedincertainpartsof Capesterre-Belle-Eauduetotheparticularlyhighchlordeconepollutionlevelsfrom decadesofintensivebananafarminginthemunicipality.
C.Claeysetal./C.R.Geoscience349(2017)351–358 356
of crab.Theinhabitedcoastis a truelived spaceforthe peopleweinterviewed,meaningitis‘‘aplacevisitedby everyone[...],withitsattractivesites,hubsaroundwhich people’s livesare constructed:homes, houses, placesof workandleisure.Itistheconcretelocationofeveryday life’’ (Di Me´o, 1990, translated here). These coastal neighbourhoods are placesof sociabilityand solidarity, where‘‘informal’’(orpiecemealforthepoorest)economies havedeveloped.Thatiswhytheinhabitantsinterviewed expressed resistance over their possible relocation.The ideaofbeingrehousedinanapartmentbuildingwithno garden and far from theseaside was hard for them to accept.Statisticsfromthe‘‘Agencedes50Pas’’showthata clearmajorityofinhabitantsmightacceptrelocationifit wasinthesameneighbourhood(60%forSainte-Marieand 67% forRifflet)andin aprivate homerather thaninan apartment complex(60%for Sainte-Marieand 72%pour Rifflet).
Theplotsoflandonwhichpeoplelivearethetiesthat anchor entire populations to their painful past at the intergenerational and generational scale. For some, the landwaspasseddownthroughfamily;forothers,itisa place of refuge following a natural, social or familial disaster.Severaloftheinhabitantswemetdescribedtheir itinerancy as they were repeatedly forced tomove, for example after the 1976 volcanic eruption, then by a cyclone and/or other event – Hugo in 1989, Luis and Marilyn in 1995, Lenny in 1999, etc. Examining their discoursemakesitpossibletoidentifytheextenttowhich suchinhabitantsaretornbetweentheirattachmenttoa place and past trauma. Some were marked by the exceptionaleventsofcycloneHugo,duringwhichcoastal swell, flooding and violent winds broke, shattered or destroyed their homes and erodedtheir land.Fear was patent in their discourse, despite being systematically offsetorexceededbya senseofpride–prideathaving survivedthecatastrophe;pride,insomecases,thattheir househadresistedthecyclone;exacerbatedpridewhen thehomewasbuiltbyinhabitantsthemselves;and,lastly, prideinhavingrisenagainaftertheevent.Thereligious fervour common in the French Antilles (Prudhomme, 2009)is alsoimportant in shapingtheway inhabitants relate to natural hazards. The inhabitants interviewed viewednaturaldisastersandtheirsurvivalofthemwholly orinpartasanactofGod.
6. Conclusion
Multihazardcoastalsituationscomplexifytheprocess ofgoverninghazards.Seismicphenomena,tsunamisand soil liquefaction are largely unpredictable and require extremely short reaction times (often within seconds), whether in terms of forecasting, alerting or protecting inhabitants. Moreover, in Guadeloupe, the legislator’s intentions torepair and prevent hazardsmust contend with a complex territorialreality that is still unableto escapeitspostcolonialpastandthelegacyofslavery.The challenges coordinatingand thepotentialcontradictions between regularization policies, hazard-prevention poli-cies and policies to curb insalubrious housing tend to exposethemostfragilepopulationstosituationsthatwe
suggestcalling,inthetraditionofJacquelineCandauand Anne Gassiat (2017), ‘‘incapacitating’’. In other words, ratherthanalleviatingthelegal,environmentalandsocial vulnerability of populations, the current institutional confusionhassubjectedsomeinhabitantstoparadoxical situations that may actually block,delay, or encourage laisser-faireattitudesandprovisorymeasuresthatendup lasting.Seenassuch,thislegalvulnerabilitytendstoreflect a further accumulation of environmental and social vulnerability.Thesituationofinhabitantsisthus particu-larlyunequalatpresentanditlooksasthoughitwillbe difficulttoresolvethecomplexityoftheissue.Meanwhile, thetermofthe‘‘Agencedes50Pas’’issettoexpirein2021. Environmentalhazardsarenotpermanentacrosstime and space, since both hazards and vulnerabilities can evolve.Previous research(D’Ercoleand P.Pigeon, 2000; Meur-Ferecet al., 2008)hasunderscored the anthropo-genic origin behind worsening natural hazards. Coastal areasareparticularlyaffected,withtheeffectsofclimate changefurtherfeltintermsofincreasingextremeevents and rising sea levels (IPCC, 2014). Other very direct anthropogenic effects are also visible, such as the hardening of shorelines, the exploitation of natural resourcesandtheconstructionorexpansionofharbours (Austin,2006;Williamsetal.,2017).Hazardsarenolonger merelynatural,theyareincreasinglysocio-naturalandare thuscomplexifyingtheissueofresponsibilityaswemove intothefuture.
Acknowledgements
Thisresearchprogramisfundedbythe‘‘Fondationde France’’.Theauthorswouldliketothankthe‘‘Agencedes 50Pasge´ome´triques’’forfacilitatingaccessinthefieldand providingaccesstoitsdata.Someoftheinterviewswith inhabitants were conducted by researcher Laura Weil. Aı¨ssatouFaye undertook thepreparation and statistical analysisofsocio-economicdatafromtheAgencedes50Pas duringan apprenticeshipin thecontextof herMaster’s degree.Theauthorsthankthemboth.
Aswewritethefinallinesinthisconclusion,Hurricane MariahasjuststrucktheFrenchAntilles(21September 2017).The firstreportsare direandinclude submerged coasts and destroyed buildings. Two deaths have been reportedinthemunicipalityofCapesterre-Belle-Eau. References
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