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Rebuilding Communities after Disasters: Lessons from the Tsunami Disaster in Sri Lanka
Author(s) -
Mulligan Martin
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
global policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1758-5899
pISSN - 1758-5880
DOI - 10.1111/1758-5899.12038
Subject(s) - sri lanka , disaster recovery , rhetoric , emergency management , political science , set (abstract data type) , public relations , environmental planning , sociology , economic growth , geography , law , computer science , economics , linguistics , philosophy , tanzania , programming language
Disaster management literature is inundated with rhetoric about ‘community participation’ or ‘community‐led recovery’, yet the studies on how to achieve this have been unconvincing, displaying a shallow understanding of what ‘community’ means. Development scholars often argue that better preparation for ‘extreme events’ can prevent them from becoming ‘disasters’, but a string of recent disasters – from Haiti to Japan – reminds us that the world community will continue to be called on to help rebuild shattered communities. This article reflects the findings of a major study of social recovery from the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka that set out to identify and analyse examples of good practice with regard to community‐led recovery. It aims to elaborate what a community development approach to disaster recovery might look like as part of a more ‘deliberative’ and patient approach to long‐term social recovery.