Limits to Social Capital: Comparing Network Assistance in Two New Orleans Neighborhoods Devastated by Hurricane Katrina

Abstract

Sociological research emphasizes that personal networks offer social resources in times of need and that this capacity varies by the social position of those involved. Yet rarely are sociologists able to make direct comparisons of such inequalities. This study overcomes this methodological challenge by examining network activation among residents of two unequal neighborhoods severely devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Results indicate that local network capacities of Lower Ninth Ward residents relative to those of the more affluent Lakeview neighborhood dissipated before, during, and after the disaster to erode the life chances of individual residents and the neighborhood they once constituted.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research received support from the National Science Foundation (Award #0554818). We thank Jennifer Day, Erica Dudas, Joey Goldberg, and Andrea Wilbon for their research assistance and the residents of these devastated neighborhoods for their generous participation.