The Urban Book Series: Beyond Houses
Sofía Valdivieso
2024
Informal settlements are often excluded or marginalized from urban and risk governance despite the evidence of their high exposure to hazards as compared to other ways of inhabiting the city. In this chapter, we show how everyday life deploys during the COVID-19 pandemic in Campamento Dignidad, an informal settlement in Santiago de Chile facing state abandonment. This hazard-prone place has been self-managed through female leadership and community strategies, which unveil the care practices and solidarity networks driven by women. This allows us to problematize more generally gender categories related to risk governance and the importance of community engagement in risk management in informal settlements.