Making sense of crises: the implications of information asymmetries for resilience and social justice in disaster-ridden communities

Abstract

New information and communication technologies (ICT) have enabled communities to collect and share information and tap into a network of peers in unprecedented ways. For more than a decade, information has been recognized as a vital part of disaster relief, and recently ICTs have been described to improve the resilience of disaster-ridden societies. At the same time, the humanitarian turn towards technology also entails increasing remote management and centralization. This paper highlights social justice concerns and critically reviews the role and potential of technology as an enabler of community resilience. We start from a discussion on essential concepts around information technologies for resilience and social justice. Having established the core concepts, we trace the development of ICT for resilience across three time periods. We discuss how technology development and disaster management practices co-evolved and highlight implications for resilience and social justice.

Keywords:

• Disaster management
• information and communication technology
• resilience
• social justice
• empowerment
• community