Resilience as emancipation: gendered development planning as a risk factor in disasters and women’s strategic needs in Turkey

The February 6 earthquakes in Turkey exposed gendered vulnerabilities and the state's failure to address structural inequalities through gender-sensitive development planning. This study critiques pre- and post-disaster plans for perpetuating pro-status quo resilience that neglects women's strategic needs. Drawing on transdisciplinary research on gender, disaster, development, and Critical Security Studies, it redefines resilience as emancipation, emphasizing the dismantling of structural inequalities rooted in the sexual division of labor, caregiving burdens, violence against women, and exclusion from decision-making. Framing disasters as gendered development problems, the study underscores the state's responsibility to foster emancipatory resilience by addressing women's strategic needs before disasters.