In her paper published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Beatrice Hati explores how storytelling and participatory theatre diversify disaster knowledge and accelerate disaster risk reduction at the grassroots level.
Hati challenges mainstream, technocratic voices which subordinate indigenous praxis and ways of knowing. She argues that singular narratives only give a partial understanding of the causes and drivers on disaster risk, thus limiting the governance on disaster risk and vulnerability.
To bridge the blind spot, she argues for a layered and intertwined process that offers multiple value possibilities for research and action by converging storytelling and participatory theatre. In her debate, this convergence creates and holds space for diversity of knowledges, convergence of voices, fluid research identities and collaborative praxis pathways.
She also criticizes the focus on large-scale, catastrophic disasters such as earthquakes and floods, whilst ignoring frequently occurring, 'everyday disasters'. She argues that without a deep understanding and confrontation of everyday disasters, capacities of global communities to tackle large-scale disasters remain uncertain.
The debates in her paper are presented alongside a critical self-reflection on the dynamic positions of researcher and participant.
Read Beatrice Hati's article online: 'Tales and plays in the flames: How stories and theatrics converge fire disaster knowledge and action in marginalized contexts' International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. October 2025.
- PhD student