Control over one’s environment? Leveling political capabilities to advance procedural justice in Flood Risk Management

Abstract

Land use change, managed retreat, and relocation programs are examples of exposure reduction measures in Flood Risk Management (FRM). Procedural justice research can help to address inequalities in people’s ability to shape FRM decision-making. Relevant, as ample controversies related to exposure reduction have been documented. In this paper, the concept of political capabilities developed by Holland and Nussbaum is proposed to help better understand and potentially resolve inequalities in FRM decision-making. We propose to understand political capabilities as having sufficient political control over one’s environment. In this way, the analysis can include both actors that have too little as well as those that have too much political influence. This paper further discusses the possibilities and limitations of the concept of political capabilities for FRM. The concept of political capabilities draws attention to the initial stages of FRM politics and is adaptable to different decision-making contexts. Moreover, political capabilities shift the focus from vulnerability to human agency, which also helps to address concerns in the literature about involuntary relocations and the loss of autonomy. The Dutch Room for the River program is proposed as an empirical case to test and develop the political capabilities framework for European Flood Risk Management.