Immanuel Wallerstein's World-System Theory and the Disaster Relief Action: A Mixed-Method Empirical Study of the 2015 Earthquake in Nepal

Disaster is an unexpected natural or human-generated catastrophe that ensues calamitous events and disrupts the functioning of the social spheres of individuals. It creates predicaments and vulnerability, damages lives and infrastructures, manifests the negative consequences as hazards and requires social resilience for recovery. Nepal is susceptible to natural disasters, and the genesis of emergencies in a specific time frame has transformed the social semblance in execrable circumstances. This article explores the disciplinary context of disaster studies. It examines whether Immanuel Wallerstein's World-System Theory fits into studying disaster relief action policy at the time of the massive earthquake in 2015 in Nepal, with empirical references. The research is conducted through mixed methods incorporating secondary data with a literature review. The significant findings present that earthquake management strategies and relief action policies are constructed in the aftermath of disasters, lacking preliminary preparedness—the dilemma and coordination between national agencies' dearth in great quantity during the post-disaster phase. As an underdeveloped country, the government of Nepal has sought international assistance due to the preliminary assessment that the Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee facilitated to manage the critical predicament fabricated by the devastating earthquake. After the seismic event, international support was immediately provided as humanitarian aid, but later, the pledge donation was delivered in the form of grants and loans from developed nations. Furthermore, the consequences conclude that an underdeveloped nation, Nepal, as a periphery country, depended upon other semi-developed and developed nations acknowledged as semi-periphery and core countries, respectively. Hence, Wallerstein's World-System Theory matches the disaster relief action policy in the 2015 earthquake in Nepal to prevent the problematic appearance of an earthquake-victimized population.