Social Capital and the Cultural Contexts of Disaster Recovery Outcomes in Myanmar and Taiwan

James, Helen; Paton, Douglas

doi:10.1080/14781158.2015.1030380

Cited by 31 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…This emphasis of our theory advances the calls from others that strategies that integrate disaster risk management, community and economic development, and poverty eradication play a vital role in strengthening the transformation and adaptation of Indigenous communities [2,[4][5][6]8,9,13,61,62]. Such integration can help to create employment, develop social capital, value local knowledge, promote a culture of disaster preparedness embedded in daily life, and strengthen community-agency and self-determination [1,22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Advancing the development of an Indigenous DRR calls for a different approach, and one that focuses on understanding how to adapt Indigenous beliefs and strategies to the diverse and context-specific consequences that people experience. Building on this knowledge, it then becomes possible to develop response and adaptive approaches that must be applied to facilitate the development of sustainable approaches to reducing the target population's risk and increasing their response capability [21,22].…”

Section: Current Indigenous Drr Research and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

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Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices through Two-Way Partnering

Ali

Buergelt

Paton

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The Sendai Framework of Action 2015–2030 calls for holistic Indigenous disaster risk reduction (DRR) research. Responding to this call, we synergized a holistic philosophical framework (comprising ecological systems theory, symbolic interactionism, and intersectionality) and social constructionist grounded theory and ethnography within a critical Indigenous research paradigm as a methodology for exploring how diverse individual and contextual factors influence DRR in a remote Indigenous community called Galiwinku, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Working together, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers collected stories in local languages using conversations and yarning circles with 20 community members, as well as participant observations. The stories were interpreted and analysed using social constructivist grounded theory analysis techniques. The findings were dialogued with over 50 community members. The findings deeply resonated with the community members, validating the trustworthiness and relevance of the findings. The grounded theory that emerged identified two themes. First, local Indigenous knowledge and practices strengthen Indigenous people and reduce the risks posed by natural hazards. More specifically, deep reciprocal relationships with country and ecological knowledge, strong kinship relations, Elder’s wisdom and authority, women and men sharing power, and faith in a supreme power/God and Indigenous-led community organizations enable DRR. Second, colonizing practices weaken Indigenous people and increase the risks from natural hazards. Therefore, colonization, the imposition of Western culture, the government application of top-down approaches, infiltration in Indigenous governance systems, the use of fly-in/fly-out workers, scarcity of employment, restrictions on technical and higher education opportunities, and overcrowded housing that is culturally and climatically unsuitable undermine the DRR capability. Based on the findings, we propose a Community-Based DRR theory which proposes that facilitating sustainable Indigenous DRR in Australian Indigenous communities requires Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners to genuinely work together in two-directional and complementary ways.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Current Indigenous Drr Research and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices through Two-Way Partnering

Ali

Buergelt

Paton

et al. 2021

IJERPH

Self Cite

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“…In contrast research indicates that, to be effective, rather than “top down” DRR behaviors need to be embedded into the normal everyday practices of a community [ 25 , 45 , 55 ]. There is evidence that embedded cultural understandings of the environment and hazards together with life-long learning are effective contributors to “resilience” [ 34 , 58 , 59 , 60 ] and where there is a diminished sense of connection with “community”, individuals and families become relatively more vulnerable [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ]. Instead, a focus on community leadership and support systems is essential for long-term sustainability in DRR action [ 25 , 57 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustaining a Transformative Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy: Grandmothers’ Telling and Singing Tsunami Stories for over 100 Years Saving Lives on Simeulue Island

Sutton

Paton

Buergelt

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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As projections about the number and scale of natural hazard events and their impact on human populations grow, increasing attention is being paid to developing effective means for preparing for and mitigating those impacts. At the same time there is an emerging understanding that gradual and incremental changes in disaster risk reduction (DRR) will not adequately meet the future needs of vulnerable populations. Transformational changes have been identified as a necessary requirement to avoid ongoing large-scale losses of life and property and models have been proposed to recalibrate DRR strategies to achieve transformative changes. One cited example of a transformative change in DRR is that of Simeulue Island. Simeulue Island suffered two tsunamis approximately 100 years apart (1907, 2004) with markedly different impacts. This paper looks in detail at the cognitive and developmental mechanisms Simeulue co-opted to sustain the transformational change throughout the 20th century. Information from interviews and observation identified the role of grandmothers have in the effective communication of risk as well as motivating appropriate action to save lives. The possibility of similarly overlooked, local, and pre-existing community capacities for transformative change in DRR is then discussed.

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“…Rather than being passive recipients of these disasters, this reconceptualization gave communities greater agency in their actions. However, this moment of humanitarian secularization (Nichols 2014) did not manifest itself across the globe (Huet 2012). It remains extremely commonplace for people to understand the world and their place through a religious worldview.…”

Section: Religion and Authentic Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding disasters: managing and accommodating different worldviews in humanitarian response

Clarke

Parris

2019

Int J Humanitarian Action

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Over the past decade, humanitarian events affected on average 120 million people annually. Whilst many of these events are human-induced, a large number of the 400 or so complex humanitarian emergencies that require international response each year are natural. Such events result in loss of life, injure and maim survivors, destroy infrastructure and give rise to psycho-social trauma. Aid agencies working alongside affected communities must address all these consequences as part of their responses. What is also required though is an appreciation that worldviews will inform how affected communities both understand the cause of the event, their role in the event and how they will subsequently participate in rebuilding or reconstruction programs. Disasters can be affected by religious beliefs. With more than 85% of the global population self-professing religious belief, these worldviews are often shaped in whole or in part by sacred texts, religious teachings and sectarian practices. In this regard, it is not uncommon for those affected by disasters (particularly natural disasters) to genuinely describe these events as 'acts of God'. Effective responses require the local context to be central in assessing needs and determining capacities. This must include an understanding of and authentic engagement with religious beliefs and how this may affect how the humanitarian event interacts with these beliefs. There is though little evidence as to how professional humanitarian workers accommodate the religious beliefs of local populations in their planning, implementation and evaluation of humanitarian responses. This paper draws on the experiences of humanitarian workers based in the USA and Australia from both faith-based and secular international non-governmental organizations to consider both how these workers themselves accommodate the religious views of affected communities in their responses and also their experience as to how such views affect the effectiveness of responses. This paper will consider why aid agencies must incorporate (and appreciate) different worldviews around disasters in order to more effectively respond to the needs of communities affected by humanitarian events. It will also identify difficulties and opportunities experienced by individual humanitarian practitioners as well as agencies when working in such environments.

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Social Capital and the Cultural Contexts of Disaster Recovery Outcomes in Myanmar and Taiwan

Cited by 31 publications

References 2 publications

Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices through Two-Way Partnering

Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices through Two-Way Partnering

Sustaining a Transformative Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy: Grandmothers’ Telling and Singing Tsunami Stories for over 100 Years Saving Lives on Simeulue Island

Understanding disasters: managing and accommodating different worldviews in humanitarian response

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