What women do: gendered labor in the Red River Valley flood

Abstract

Findings are reported from a qualitative case study of women's work in the 1997 Red River Valley flood in the Upper Midwestern US. Drawing on narrative accounts from 115 informants in 14 group interviews, the paper explores women's disaster work at home, in the workplace, and in the community. A typology of ten forms of disaster work was developed to analyze the findings and encourage comparative research. Women's physical and socioemotional work in the household materially contributed to mitigation and reconstruction. Women were also “backstage” emergency responders in their professional roles in female-dominated occupations. These activities led some to collective and individual protest of social inequities arising during the flood. The findings were used to develop practical guidelines for more inclusive emergency planning and practice.