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Social Capital in Post Disaster Recovery: Strong Networks and Communities Create a Resilient East Asian Community

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Resilience and Recovery in Asian Disasters

Part of the book series: Risk, Governance and Society ((RISKGOSO,volume 18))

Abstract

Standard approaches to disaster mitigation and recovery have, until recently, tended to overlook the role of social resources. This chapter investigates the mechanisms through which social capital and networks assist with disaster management, including modifying the responses of exit and voice, overcoming barriers to collective action, and providing informal insurance and mutual aid. Through examples such as the 1923 Tokyo earthquake, the 1995 Kobe earthquake, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and the 2011 compounded disaster in Tohoku, Japan, this piece seeks to underscore a potentially efficient and cost effective response to crises.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Supporting these findings, Cassar et al. (2012) provide experimental evidence that victims of disaster are more trusting of others and simultaneously moderately more trustworthy.

  2. 2.

    The researchers are referring to the ability of individuals living outside the affected area—hence the term “translocal”—to provide resources at a critical moment.

  3. 3.

    The Reynolds collection (http://library.brown.edu/cds/kanto/about.html) has over 100 photographs taken in Japan immediately following the earthquake.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Daniel P. Aldrich

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  1. Daniel P. Aldrich
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Correspondence to Daniel P. Aldrich .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Daniel P. Aldrich

  2. Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia

    Sothea Oum

  3. Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuyuki Sawada

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© 2015 Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)

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Aldrich, D.P. (2015). Social Capital in Post Disaster Recovery: Strong Networks and Communities Create a Resilient East Asian Community. In: Aldrich, D., Oum, S., Sawada, Y. (eds) Resilience and Recovery in Asian Disasters. Risk, Governance and Society, vol 18. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55022-8_2

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