Natural and Unnatural Disaster in the Mortlock Islands of Micronesia

Marshall, Mac

doi:10.17730/humo.38.3.r227635462487535

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Our study is not the first study, qualitative or quantitative, of a community impacted by disaster to reveal tensions between collective and individual interests (e.g., Bretherton & Ride, 2011;Harwell, 2000;Jencson, 2001;Marshall, 1979;Oliver-Smith, 1999). Yet, by blending perspectives on consumer and community psychology, we provide a unique perspective on how material objects relate to different identities and reveal why tensions over object meanings exist.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I can't get your house for you, unless you want to pay back all the money you got from us." [Individual Interview 12] Such stories demonstrate that, in the distribution of resources, some people are impacted more than others (see also Marshall, 1979). This story also reveals that social resources are tools in restructuring community according to social status, and explains further why issues of fairness/social justice arise when "we" speaks for "me" in community.…”

Section: Materials Objects As Agents Of Oppositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, numerous scholars engaged in disaster research across many disciplines and methodological approaches have called for a better understanding of the consumer psychology issues involved in disaster recovery (Austin, 2006;Bretherton & Ride, 2011;Cox, Long, Jones, & Handler, 2008;Marshall, 1979;Oliver-Smith, 1999;Suda, 2000). We provide implications for disaster relief and hope to stimulate further consumer research on material aspects of disaster recovery.…”

Section: Intended Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Persons in charge of distributing resources believed these procedures allowed for formal mechanisms to assess material well-being and to equitably distribute resources. However, informants spoke of these assessment mechanisms, which were not anonymous, as unfriendly and non-adaptive to individual desires (Marshall, 1979). The following quote from a resident reveals frustration with both the process and outcomes of collective assessment.…”

Section: Materials Objects As Agents Of Oppositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Martin and Hill's (2012) work shows how impoverished consumers significantly modify their perspectives when they have attained at least a culturally-determined level of items needed to move beyond mere survival. There are significant differences between western and eastern cultures (Hofstede, 2001), as well as between different regions within the same country (Marshall, 1979), as to what constitutes material well-being (Sen, 2001). Ideally, an understanding of material well-being for a particular group could be developed before circumstances required them to do so.…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A community psychology of object meanings: Identity negotiation during disaster recovery

Baker

Hill

2013

J Consum Psychol

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What do material goods intended for personal consumption mean to community? We use the extreme example of natural disaster recovery in a community to explore this question. Our work describes how members make sense of material objects that transition from private to public possessions (damaged goods) and public to private possessions (donated goods). By blending consumer and community psychology perspectives with our narratives, we employ a three-dimensional framework for analyzing object meanings: (1) material objects as agents of communitas (a shared sense of "we"),(2) material objects as agents of individualism (a focus on "me"), and (3) material objects as agents of opposition (the "we" that speaks for "me" and "us" versus "them"). This theoretical frame allows us to show how different conceptions of identity lead to conflicting meanings of objects within community, and to explain how and why object meanings shift as objects move across time and space from private to public and from scarcity to abundance. We also provide implications for coping with disasters that consider collective and individual identities as well as oppositional stances in between.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Materials Objects As Agents Of Oppositionmentioning

confidence: 99%