Geographies of Social Capital: Catastrophe Experience, Risk Perception, and the Transformation of Social Space in Postearthquake Resettlements in Sichuan, China

Abstract

This article explores the relationships between catastrophe experience and risk perception, social interaction, and household response to future catastrophes. Our main argument recognizes the geographical context in which social capital is formed and reproduced. Social relationships and norms adjust to the social landscape, which can be transformed by the spatial consequences of natural catastrophes. We therefore argue that sources of household resilience could be derived from the spatial transformation of social practices and not necessarily from catastrophe experience and risk perception directly. A case study was conducted in two postearthquake rural communities in China. The inquiry is primarily based on a household survey of 371 local residents and is further supported by an analysis of additional in-depth interviews and a review of key changes in the neighborhoods under study. The findings challenge the assumption that catastrophe experience and risk perception are related to residents' intentions to prepare for future catastrophes. Nonetheless, the relationship might be mediated by social relationships and social norms. Catastrophe experience and risk perception can be construed as a geographical contextual factor. Further analysis provides one example of such a factor: The spatial features of postearthquake resettlements have increased the proximity between residents. This shift facilitates neighborly interaction and risk communication across a neighborhood. We discuss the nonlinear, dynamic relationships between the variables examined and the grounding of social capital in space.

本文探讨灾难经验和风险认知、社会互动以及家户对于未来灾害的回应之间的关联性。我们的主要主张在于指认社会资本形成和再生产的地理脉络。社会关係和常规适应社会地景༌并可被自然灾害的空间后果所改变。我们因而主张༌家户恢復力的来源༌可能衍生自社会实践的空间变迁༌而不一定直接从灾难经验和风险认知而来。我们对中国两座经历大地震的农村社区进行案例研究。研究问题主要是根据三百七十一位在地居民的家户调查༌并由额外的深度访谈分析和回顾研究的邻里中的关键改变进一步支持之。研究发现༌挑战了灾害经验和风险认知关乎居民为未来的灾害做准备的意图之预设༌但此般关係仍然可被社会关係和社会常规所中介。灾害经验和风险认知可解释为地理的脉络因素。进一步的分析༌对此般因素提供了一个实例༚地震后再安置的空间特徵༌增加了居民之间的亲近性。此般改变促进了邻里间的邻居互动和风险沟通。我们探讨所检视的变项和社会资本的空间基础之间非线性的动态关係。

En este artículo se exploran las relaciones entre la experiencia en catástrofe y la percepción del riesgo, la interacción social y la respuesta del hogar frente a futuras catástrofes. Nuestro argumento principal reconoce el contexto geográfico dentro del cual se forma y reproduce el capital social. Las relaciones sociales y las normas se ajustan al paisaje social, que puede ser transformado por las consecuencias espaciales que generan las catástrofes naturales. Por eso argüimos que las fuentes de resiliencia del hogar podrían derivarse de la transformación espacial de las prácticas sociales y no necesariamente de la experiencia en catástrofe y percepción del riesgo en forma directa. Se condujo un estudio de caso posterior a un terremoto en dos comunidades rurales de China. La indagación está basada primariamente en un estudio de hogares de 371 residentes locales, apoyado además por un análisis de entrevistas a profundidad y una revisión de cambios claves en los vecindarios bajo estudio. Los hallazgos cuestionan el supuesto de que la experiencia en catástrofe y la percepción del riesgo están relacionadas con las intenciones de los residentes de prepararse para futuras catástrofes. No obstante, la relación podría estar mediada por las relaciones sociales y la normatividad social. La experiencia en catástrofe y la percepción del riesgo pueden interpretarse como un factor geográfico contextual. Un mayor análisis genera un ejemplo de tal factor: Los rasgos espaciales de los reasentamientos posteriores al terremoto han incrementado la proximidad entre los residentes. Este cambio facilita la interacción vecinal y la comunicación relacionada con el riesgo a través del vecindario. Discutimos las relaciones dinámicas no lineales entre las variables examinadas y el afincamiento del capital social en el espacio.

Key Words:

• catastrophe experience
• China
• earthquake
• household behavior
• social interaction

关键词：:

• 灾难经验༌中国༌地震༌家户行为༌社会互动。

Palabras clave:

• experiencia en catástrofe
• China
• terremoto
• conducta hogareña
• interacción social

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to acknowledge the support offered by the Wolong Special Administration Region for the data collection in Wolong, Sichuan.

Note

Funding

This work was supported by funding from the Trust Fund in Support of Reconstruction in the Sichuan Earthquake Stricken Areas of the Development Bureau of Hong Kong SAR Government.

Notes

1. Renn (2011) adopted the social amplification of risk framework (Kasperson et al. 1988; Renn et al. 1992). This framework is proposed as an interpretative framework for understanding experiences of risk and their behavioral and broader societal implications. It is based on the assumption that individuals process risk information either by amplifying signals that appear to be frightening or by attenuating those that are less threatening. This process is driven by or highly sensitive to social parameters, such as social norms, which are creatively described as a social amplifier of risk. The functioning and transmission powers of such amplifiers crucially influence the formation of risk perceptions. They operate through multiple feedback mechanisms and complicate the ways in which risk perceptions affect human actions. By placing social cognitive factors at the center, the framework could offer explanations as to why risk-related behaviors appear to be insensitive to risk perceptions in some cases.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alex Y. Lo

ALEX Y. LO is an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include political economy, public perception of environmental change, public engagement in environmental planning, and management.

Lewis T. O. Cheung

LEWIS T. O. CHEUNG is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests focus on sustainable tourism with particular emphasis on nature-based tourism in protected areas, environmental education, and environmental conservation.