Abstract
This thesis seeks to address how disasters both exacerbate the existing structural abandonment people with disabilities face daily, as well as how disabled communities exercise their agency during disasters. These two sides to crises are what I argue give disasters their ‘duality.’ I first provide an overview and analysis of existing literature within environmental and disability studies to merge the two disciplines. Ultimately, I argue that environmental and climate frameworks are not only compatible with the disability justice framework but also deeply enhanced by this framework. Next, I focus on how structural abandonment that disabled people face regularly, particularly the practice of institutionalization in nursing homes, is exacerbated during disasters. I analyzed and coded data from a series of primary source documents and then included my own synthesis of how this data connects to various theories pertaining to disaster and disability. Finally, I discussed how disability-led initiatives before, during, and after disasters have successfully pushed back against the aforementioned structural forces. For this section, I conducted 14 semi-structured interviews with disability rights advocates, disability-led organizations, disaster responders who are disabled, and academics.