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Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy

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ISSN (Print) 1944-4079
Published by John Wiley and Sons

[1587 journals]

Issue Information
- Pages: 1 - 43
  PubDate: 2013-04-24T10:35:10.793052-05:
  DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.3
“Only Connect!” Social Capital, Resilience, and Recovery
- Authors: Kathleen Tierney
  Pages: 1 - 5
  Abstract: Daniel Aldrich's Building Resilience combines theoretical insights on the role of social capital in community life and extensive empirical research on its impact on recovery following four disasters. In her review of this major contribution, Kathleen Tierney discusses the conceptualization and measurement of disaster recovery and resilience and the relevance of social capital in its multiple forms. She then highlights potential contributions of supra‐local entities to improving disaster outcomes that Aldrich seems reluctant to consider.
  PubDate: 2013-04-24T10:35:10.793052-05:
  DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.20
Social Capital and the Future of Disaster Recovery Research
- Authors: Rieko Kage
  Pages: 6 - 10
  Abstract: Daniel P. Aldrich's Building Resilience: Social Capital in Post‐Disaster Recovery (University of Chicago Press, 2012) is a major addition to the study of how societies recover in the wake of natural disasters. In this book, Aldrich challenges conventional claims that successful reconstruction from natural disasters is about the quality of governance, sufficient funding, extent of physical damage, or levels of human capital. Instead, he points to social capital as a crucial determinant of a society's post‐disaster recovery over the medium to longer term. The book also raises important issues as to how we might think about the independence of observations in the wake of disaster, the concepts of bridging and social capital, how to fruitfully integrate societal‐based accounts of post‐disaster with state‐based accounts, and about moving toward more systematic comparisons not only within but also across different disasters.
  PubDate: 2013-04-24T10:35:10.793052-05:
  DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.21
Social Capital in Post‐Disaster Recovery: Concepts and Measurement
- Authors: Ilan Noy
  Pages: 11 - 16
  Abstract: Daniel Aldrich, in his new book on social capital in post‐disaster recovery, presents new and convincing empirical evidence to support his claim that social ties and the ability of communities to mobilize are important in facilitating successful post‐disaster recovery. Yet, as Aldrich notes, social capital is “an underexamined factor” in research and more importantly in policymaking, planning, and design of post‐disaster recovery. He identifies the ability of social capital to overcome collective action problems, to provide informal insurance, and to make available resources for investment in longer term recovery as the keys to social capital's importance. While a careful cost‐benefit analysis of some of the interventions that Aldrich suggests is still necessary, the call to arms is very convincing, and it will only become more important as we face changing climatic and demographic conditions that are bound to lead to more deadly and more costly catastrophes.
  PubDate: 2013-04-24T10:35:10.793052-05:
  DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.22
Indicators of Recovery, Indications for Policy
- Authors: Frederick Weil
  Pages: 17 - 22
  Abstract: Daniel Aldrich has written a masterful book with Building Resilience: Social Capital in Post‐Disaster Recovery. In this comment on the book, I discuss some of the challenges he faced and tried to overcome in finding and using indicators of social capital and disaster recovery. Having recently completed a very large data collection effort myself in post‐Katrina New Orleans, I describe some of the tasks that face researchers. I also highlight some of the requirements of combining survey with spatial and government data. Then I discuss some of the policy issues in recovery. I share Aldrich's skepticism of top‐down approaches, though of course they are a necessary component, and describe some ways they may be unhelpful or even counterproductive. When community members work together effectively, they can sometimes even bend the curve of resources required for recovery.
  PubDate: 2013-04-24T10:35:10.793052-05:
  DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.23
Reviving Community: The Difficult Practice of Prioritizing Social Capital in Disaster Responses
- Authors: James Gannon
  Pages: 23 - 27
  Abstract: Drawing on his experiences coordinating among overseas donors and local aid groups responding to Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami, James Gannon gives high marks to Daniel Aldrich's Building Resilience: Social Capital in Post‐Disaster Recovery. He agrees with the importance of prioritizing social capital in disaster responses, but points out some of the practical challenges and pressures that make this difficult to do. Maintaining social capital sometimes involves difficult trade‐offs, it is less politically appealing than shortsighted “quick fixes,” and when nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are playing a growing role in the disaster response, it is more difficult for them to convince donors and other stakeholders of the need to prioritize approaches that strengthen social capital over other more tangible and easily understood interventions. Nonetheless, he argues that approaches that harness social capital are essential for sustainable and effective disaster responses.
  PubDate: 2013-04-24T10:35:10.793052-05:
  DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.24
Beyond Social Capital: Social Justice in Recovery and Resilience
- Authors: Thad Williamson
  Pages: 28 - 31
  Abstract: Focusing on the case of post‐Katrina New Orleans, this essay argues that the framework of social capital used by Daniel Aldrich in Building Resilience needs to be supplemented by an explicit account of social justice. Policymakers must recognize the ways in which social capital can exacerbate deep social inequalities that impact residents' vulnerability to disasters. Concern with strengthening social capital should be matched by concern with rectifying severe inequalities.
  PubDate: 2013-04-24T10:35:10.793052-05:
  DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.25
Response to My Critics
- Authors: Daniel P. Aldrich
  Pages: 32 - 43
  Abstract: This article responds to the questions and criticisms raised by six reviewers about my book Building Resilience: Social Capital in Post‐Disaster Recovery. I focus on the distinctions between social capital types (bonding, bridging, and linking), the difficulties in pinning down widely accepted proxies for social capital, the double‐edged nature of social networks, race, class, and ethnicity, and public policies which can deepen reservoirs of social capital. Given the ubiquitous nature of disasters and society's need to move beyond technical and engineering‐based responses to crisis, this article continues an important dialogue on the role of human factors in disaster management and response.
  PubDate: 2013-04-24T10:35:10.793052-05:
  DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.26

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