Resilience, Adaptation, and Inertia: Lessons from Disaster Recovery in a Time of Climate Change

Abstract

Objectives. To examine and assess sociocultural or socioeconomic inertia as an impediment to effective climate change policy response and practice. Methods. Two core concepts to climate change policy response, "resilience" and "adaptation," are seen as critical in disaster recovery strategies and practice. As ideal types, these concepts are coalescing in theory and gaining acceptance in the professional community, but not necessarily in practice. These concepts are explored through a study of disaster recovery efforts following the West Virginia floods of 2016. Results. Disaster recovery strategies based on ideal forms of resilience and adaptation face significant barriers to adoption and practice. Disjunction between theory and practice constitutes one form of inertia. Other contributing factors include individual and collective behavior that resists change through social justification and insular forms of social capital. Institutional drag, in the form of waning political will and limited administrative capacity, also impedes adoption and use. Conclusion. Sociocultural and socioeconomic inertia challenge the development of effective policies and practices to address climate change; social science can contribute to our understanding of these sources of constraint.

Expanding Social Science Through Disaster Studies

“…As Plein () notes: “The essence of social science is to discover how human and social agency responds to and is applied to new circumstance, challenge, and change.” Disasters give us glimpses into moments of challenge and change that create precisely the new circumstances social scientists study. They are societal disruptions comprising not a singular event, but many such moments in a long‐term cycle (Quarantelli, Lagadec, and Boin, ).…”

“…Disasters, therefore, become pivotal events in the lives of citizens, shaping public expectations, evaluations, and attitudes toward government (Darr, Cate, and Moak, ). Contributing scholars use disasters as a lens through which to examine policy windows (Plein, ; Pope and Leland, ), legislative behavior (Yeo and Knox, ), and the relationship between citizens and government. Studies in this issue examine public praise and blame for government performance (Darr, Cate, and Moak, ; Canales, Pope, and Maestas, ), trust in government and public officials (Reinhardt, ), information as a public good (Wehde, Pudlo, and Robinson, ), and factors mediating partisan polarization (Ross, Rouse, and Mobley, ).…”

“…“For those who study politics and policy, an essential question is whether the severity of a disaster has the potential to disrupt so that real, substantive policy response might follow” (Plein, ). Plein articulates a framework for climate change adaptation built on principles of social justice and equity.…”

Local adaptation policy responses to extreme weather events

“…However, policy change is context-and event-dependent, and scholars note that the experience of disaster does not always yield policy change. Indeed, disasters can also yield policy inertia and failure, perhaps as often or more so than major policy change (Birkland 1997(Birkland , 2006Boin et al 2009;Nohrstedt 2008Nohrstedt , 2011Plein 2019). While few studies have examined local policy responses to extreme weather events, those that do find both that extreme events can lead to policy change, and that community-and event-specific conditions matter.…”

The European Media Portrayal of Climate Change: Implications for the Social Mobilization towards Climate Action

“…Yet, one can argue that these social movements may be effective in raising awareness to the actual climate crisis but ineffective in driving a real social change with individuals actively engaging with environment-related issues. Indeed, it has been proven that a social inertia concerning climate still prevails in our society, constraining the development and implementation of effective measures to address climate change [6].…”