![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
Abstract
Social capital and leadership are critical in mobilizing collective actions to promote community and individual recovery after a natural disaster. Transformation to a better situation post-disaster, not just returning to a previous state, reflects the growing emphasis on disaster as a catalyst for change. To facilitate transformative change, the development focus at the core of this approach emphasizes empowerment through local governments and domestic civil society organizations working in the ‘bottom up’ participatory mode to enhance the resilience of vulnerable population groups. Poverty reduction and disaster risk reduction are interlinked. However, the research literature on disasters pays least attention to socially created vulnerabilities. They are ignored because of the difficulty in developing agreement on theory, and prioritizing issues quantifying them. This article investigates the impact of the cultural contexts in Myanmar and Taiwan on disaster recovery and reconstruction plans for specific disaster events in which vulnerable population groups respond to different risk governance frameworks and suggests a foundation for developing a cross-cultural, all-hazards approach to understanding the relationship between resilience and recovery in the context of large-scale Asian disasters.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery [grant number DP120100606]. Ethics Approval 2012/337 was received from the Australian National University on 1 June 2012. Ethics approval for associated fieldwork in Taiwan, 2009 was provided by the University of Tasmania [ethics approval reference: H11804/H0013206].
Notes on contributors
Helen James is an Associate Professor (adjunct) with the Department of Anthropology, School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia Pacific, ANU. Her PhD and MA are from the University of Pittsburgh, and her BA (Oriental Studies) is from the ANU. She is the lead chief investigator for the ARC-funded project ‘Demographic Consequences of Asian Disasters: Family Dynamics, Social Capital and Migration Patterns’ (DP120100606).
Douglas Paton is a Professor in the School of Psychological and Clinical Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, a Research Fellow at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (New Zealand), a technical advisor on risk communication to the World Health Organization, a member of the IRDR Risk Interpretation and Action sub-committee (UN-ISDR), an advisor to the Australian Red Cross on community resilience, and a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Board-European Commission TACTIC Program. He was a member of the Psychosocial Advisory Committee for the Christchurch earthquake and was the Australian delegate to the UNESCO Education for Natural Disaster Preparedness in the Asia-Pacific program (following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami).
Notes
1 C. Airriess et al., ‘Church-based Social Capital, Networks and Geographical Scale: Katrina Evacuation, Relocation, and Recovery in a New Orleans Vietnamese American Community', Geoforum 39, no. 3 (2008): 1333–46; G. Mathbor, ‘Enhancement of Community Preparedness for Natural Disasters: The Role of Social Capital for Sustainable Disaster Relief and Management', International Social Work 50, no. 3 (2007): 357–69; G. Mathbor, ‘Surviving Disaster: The Role of Invisible Assets of Communities’, in Disaster Concepts and Issues, ed. David F. Gillespie and Kofi Danso (Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education, 2010), 145–62; Y. Nakagawa and R. Shaw, ‘Social Capital: The Missing Link to Disaster Recovery', International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 22, no. 1 (2004): 5–34; R. Shaw and K. Goda, ‘From Disaster to Sustainable Civil Society: The Kobe Experience', Disasters 28, no. 1 (2004): 16–40; D. Paton et al., ‘The Impact of the 2004 Tsunami on Coastal Thai Communities: Assessing Adaptive Capacity', Disasters 32, no. 1 (2008): 106–19.
2 M. Pelling, Adaptation to Climate Change: From Resilience to Transformation (London and New York: Routledge, 2011).
3 C. Benson, and E. Clay, Understanding the Economic and Financial Impacts of Natural Disasters (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004).
4 UN/ISDR, The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, UN/ISDR, 2007, 1.
5 UNDP, Human Development Report (New York: UNDP, 1994).
6 S. Cutter and C. Corendea, eds., From Social Vulnerability to Resilience: Measuring Progress toward Disaster Risk Reduction (Bonn: United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security, 2013), 120–136, http://www.ehs.unu.edu/file/get/11051 (accessed September 25, 2013).
7 F. Norris et al., ‘Community Resilience as a Metaphor, Theory, Set of Capacities, and Strategy for Disaster Readiness’, American Journal of Community Psychology 41 (2008): 127–50.
8 E. Frankenberg, J. Nobles, and C. Sumantri, ‘Community Destruction and Traumatic Stress in Post-tsunami Indonesia', Journal of Health and Social Behavior 20, no. 10 (2012): 1–17.
9 F. Cleaver, ‘The Inequality of Social Capital and the Reproduction of Chronic Poverty', World Development 33, no. 6 (2005): 893–906.
10 K. Cook, ‘Networks, Norms and Trust: The Social Psychology of Social Capital', Social Psychology Quarterly 68, no. 1 (2005): 4–14; Nan Lin, Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).
11 In Taiwan, focus group discussions were organized through the Ministry of Health and Welfare Reconstruction Centre leaders and local community leaders in Dongshih (June 2009, November 2009). Focus groups ranged from five to eight participants. Interviews were conducted by one author and translated by local Mandarin, Hakka and Taiwanese translators. In Dongshih, three focus groups from the reconstruction organization participated and one group of people who were involved in re-establishing their community. All participants were Hakka. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interview schedule was guided by the following research questions: What aspects of social and cultural life influenced recovery and adaptation to hazard consequences and resettlement over time? What aspects of the community–agency relationships helped and hindered response and resettlement over time? Interview data was analyzed by thematic analysis and identifying themes that emerged from the interview data and verifying and confirming them through the iterative analysis of the data (V. Braun and V. Clarke, ‘Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology', Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, no. 2 (2006): 77–101; P. Burnard et al., ‘Analysing and Presenting Qualitative Data’, British Dental Journal 204, no. 8 (April 26, 2008): 429–32; G. Guest, A. Bunce, and L. Johnson, ‘How Many Interviews Are Enough? An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability', Field Methods 18, no. 1 (2006): 59–82).
12 Tripartite Core Group (TCG), Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (Yangon: TCG/Government of Myanmar, 2008), 1.
13 Ibid.
14 Under the former military regime the required household registration scheme also directly inhibited people from moving to other areas.
15 Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Report (July 2008).
16 Tripartite Core Group (TCG), Post-Nargis Periodic Review I–IV (Yangon: TCG, 2008, 2010).
17 D. Paton and L. Jang, ‘Disaster Resilience: Exploring All-hazards and Cross-cultural Perspectives’, in Community Disaster Recovery and Resiliency: Exploring Global Opportunities and Challenges, ed. D. Miller and J. Rivera, pp. 81–100 (Oxford: Taylor and Francis, 2011).
18 Discussion with senior Taiwanese official, Pintung, June 2014.
19 J. Lo, ‘The Impact of the Chi-Chi Earthquake on Demographic Changes: An Event History Analysis’, Chapter 10 in Demographic Responses to Economic and Environmental Crises, ed. S. Kurosu, T. Bengtsson, and C. Campbell (Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan: Proceedings of IUSSP seminar, Reitaku University, 2010), 193–203.
20 Y. Chou et al., ‘Suicides after the 1999 Taiwan Earthquake', International Journal of Epidemiology 32 (2003): 1007–14; Lo, ‘The Impact of the Chi-Chi Earthquake on Demographic Changes’, 198.
21 TCG, Post-Nargis Joint Assessment, 2008, 2; UNDP, Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (IHLC) (Yangon: UNDP/Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, 2007).
22 Following the 25 May 2008 ASEAN–UN International Pledging Conference, the agreed Tripartite Core Group-coordinated relief efforts by the Government of Myanmar (GoM), the UN and ASEAN. On 31 May, the TCG agreed to conduct the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) to assess the extent of the destruction and the requirements for humanitarian assistance and medium- and long-term recovery. Some 250 staff from the GoM, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asian Development Bank and World Bank, UN agencies and NGOs conducted the Village Tract Assessment (VTA) and the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DaLY). Staff from 18 government ministries were involved in field visits and data interpretation; some 70 people condensed this data into the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Report (July 2008).
23 Discussions in Yangon with NGOs, Metta Development Foundation, Action Aid, Merlin, Shalom and Department of Medical Research (Lower Myanmar), Yangon University academics, and INGOs UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA, June 2012–June 2014.
24 TCG, Post-Nargis Periodic Review I–IV, 2010, 17.
25 R. Osti and S. Tanaka, ‘The Importance of Mangrove Forest in Tsunami Disaster Mitigation', Disasters 33, no. 2 (2008): 203–13.
26 Fieldwork Burmese Delta, focus group discussions with women's groups in Aung Kone and Byi Chaung, November 2012, hosted by NGO Metta Development Foundation.
27 Focus group discussion with some 30 representatives of women's groups, School Hall, Byi Chaung, November 2012.
28 TCG, Post-Nargis Joint Assessment, 2008.
29 Ibid., 91 and 93.
30 Ibid., 24.
31 Ibid., 14.
32 Personal communication with NGO leader from Metta Development Foundation, November 2012.
33 L. Jang, Natural Disasters: Effects of Cultural Factors on Resilience (North Charleston, SC: VDM Verlag Dr Muller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG and Licensors, 2008); D. Paton and L. Jang, ‘Disaster Resilience: Exploring All-hazards and Cross-cultural Perspectives’, in Community Disaster Recovery and Resiliency: Exploring Global Opportunities and Challenges, ed. D. Miller and J. Rivera, pp. 81–100 (Oxford: Taylor and Francis, 2011).
34 Jang, Natural Disasters; Paton, and Jang, ‘Disaster Resilience’, 1; L. Jang and W. La Mendola, ‘The Hakka Spirit as a Predictor of Resilience', in Disaster Resilience: An Integrated Approach, ed. D. Paton and D. Johnston, pp. 174–189 (Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 2006).
35 L. Gutierrez, M. Zuniga, and D. Lum, eds., Education for Multicultural Social Work Practice: Critical Viewpoints and Future Directions (Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education, 2004); Jang and La Mendola, ‘The Hakka Spirit'; Paton and Jang, ‘Disaster Resilience'; C. Rabin, ed., Understanding Gender and Culture in the Helping Process: Practitioners' Narratives from Global Perspectives (Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005).
36 Paton and Jang, ‘Disaster Resilience'.
37 Jang, Natural Disasters; Paton and Jang, ‘Disaster Resilience'; Jang and La Mendola, ‘The Hakka Spirit as a Predictor of Resilience'.
38 D. Paton, ‘Risk Communication and Natural Hazard Mitigation: How Trust Influences its Effectiveness’, International Journal of Global Environmental 8 (2008): 2–16.
39 E. Diener and E. Suh, Culture and Subjective Well-being (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000); H.C. Triandis, Individualism and Collectivism (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1995).
40 J.R. Eiser et al., ‘Risk Interpretation and Action: A Conceptual Framework for Responses to Natural Hazards’, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 1 (2012): 5–16.
41 S. Cadell, C. Regehr, and D. Hemsworth, ‘Factors Contributing to Post-traumatic Growth: A Proposed Structural Equation Model', American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 73, no. 3 (2003): 279–87; T. Cannon, ‘Vulnerability, “Innocent” Disasters and the Imperative of Cultural Understanding', Disaster Prevention and Management 17, no. 3 (2008): 350–57; I. Nathanson, ‘Spirituality and the Life Cycle', in Religious Organizations in Community Services: A Social Work Perspective, ed. T. Tirrito and T. Cascio (New York: Springer, 2003), 63–77.
42 Jang and La Mendola, ‘The Hakka Spirit as a Predictor of Resilience', 2006.
43 Jang, Natural Disasters, 2008.
44 D. Saleebey, ed., The Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice, 3rd ed. (Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2002).
45 D. and L. Jang, ‘Earthquake Readiness and Recovery: An Asia-Pacific Perspective', in Earthquakes and their Impact on Societies, ed. S. DÁmico (London: Springer, 2014).
46 Fieldwork interviews, Taiwan, 2009.
47 D. Paton, L.-j. Jang, and L.-W. Liu, ‘Long Term Community Recovery: Lessons from Earthquake and Typhoon Experiences in Taiwan', in The Consequences of Disasters: Demographic, Planning and Policy implications, ed. H. James and D. Paton (Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 2015, forthcoming).
48 TCG, Post-Nargis Joint Assessment, 2008, 24.
49 Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Listening to Voices from Inside: Myanmar Civil Society's Response to Cyclone Nargis (Phnom Penh: CPCS, 2009); and Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Listening to Voices from Inside: Ethnic People Speak (Pnom Penh: CPCS, 2010). Fifteen local organizations and 32 individuals were interviewed for the 2009 study. In the second study, 87 interviews were conducted with representatives of all the major ethnic groups, both in rural and urban settings.
50 R. Putnam, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993); Cook, ‘Networks, Norms and Trust'.
51 Airriess et al., ‘Church-based Social Capital'.
52 S. Cutter et al., ‘Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards’, Social Science Quarterly 84, no. 2 (2003): 242–61.
53 HelpAge International, The Situation of Older People in Cyclone Affected Myanmar (Chiang Mai: HelpAge International, 2009).
54 Fieldwork, Burmese Delta, 2012–14.
55 HelpAge International, The Situation of Older People in Cyclone Affected Myanmar; field visits to Laputta in May 2009 by Michael Paratharayil.
56 M. Paratharayil, ‘Basic versus Focused Psychosocial Interventions for Community Well-being: Lessons following the Nargis Cyclone Interventions in Burma/Myanmar', Intervention 8, no. 2 (2010): 148–57.
57 TCG, Post-Nargis Periodic Review I–IV, 2010.
58 Paratharayil, ‘Basic versus Focused Psychosocial Interventions’, 149.
59 Metta Development Foundation, Post Cyclone Nargis Trauma Healing and Recovery Initiatives (Yangon: Metta, 2010), 12
60 Ibid., 13.
61 Paton et al., ‘The Impact of the 2004 Tsunami on Coastal Thai Communities’.
62 Metta, Post Cyclone Nargis Trauma Healing, 12.
63 Paratharayil, ‘Basic versus Focused Psychosocial Interventions’, 151.
64 Ibid., 150.