Post-disaster recovery and sociocultural change: Rethinking social capital development for the new social fabric

Monteil, Charlotte, Simmons, Peter and Hicks, Anna (2020) Post-disaster recovery and sociocultural change: Rethinking social capital development for the new social fabric. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 42. ISSN 2212-4209

[thumbnail of Accepted_Manuscript]
Preview
PDF (Accepted_Manuscript) - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

Download (588kB) | Preview

Abstract

The post-disaster period is critical for reducing vulnerability and building resilience. Social capital plays an important role in generating and maintaining risk reducing behaviour and a rich evidence base demonstrating its contribution to the recovery process exists. Yet, so far little distinction has been made between the different types of social capital, despite important variations of outcomes. To address this gap, this article examines the evolving roles of specific forms of social capital on the long-term post-disaster recovery process. We explore the disaster recovery process on the active volcanic island of Montserrat in the Caribbean, marked by rapid and intense post-disaster demographic change following the beginning of the eruption in 1995. We explore the challenges of the shift from a relatively homogenous to a relatively diverse population for building a resilient society. Our investigation illustrates the complexity of the recovery process and the coexistence of conflicting objectives which, if poorly managed, can create new forms of vulnerability and impede the sustainability of the development process. We argue that not all forms of social capital development are beneficial for the long-term recovery process. In a diversifying society, bonding social capital may have perverse effect while bridging and linking social capital may be key for building social cohesion, a key contributor to sustainable development. We argue that measures for re-development should be sensitive to the long-term effects of different forms of social capital, in particular their consequences for building social cohesion, a key contributor to sustainable recovery in a dynamically changing society.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: cohesion,disaster,montserrat,recovery,social capital,volcano,resilience,power,preparedness,policy,community,disaster,adaptation,insights,geology,geotechnical engineering and engineering geology,safety research ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900/1907
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science
Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Science, Society and Sustainability
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 15 Oct 2019 09:30
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2022 05:21
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/72582
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101356

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item