Social Capital and Community Resilience
2014/10/01 by Daniel P. Aldrich, Michelle A. Meyer · 2,237 citations
Engineering · Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Agency (philosophy) #Business #Community resilience #Critical infrastructure #Disaster Management and Resilience #Disaster Response and Management #Economic growth #Economics #Emergency management #Government (linguistics) #Homeland security #Infrastructure Resilience and Vulnerability Analysis #Political science #Public relations #Resilience (materials science) #Social capital #Sociology #Toll
paper · doi:10.1177/0002764214550299
published in American Behavioral Scientist 59(2), 254-269 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2014/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Abstract
Despite the ubiquity of disaster and the increasing toll in human lives and financial costs, much research and policy remain focused on physical infrastructure–centered approaches to such events. Governmental organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Agency for International Development, and United Kingdom’s Department for International Development continue to spend heavily on hardening levees, raising existing homes, and repairing damaged facilities despite evidence that social, not physical, infrastructure drives resilience. This article highlights the critical role of social capital and networks in disaster survival and recovery and lays out recent literature and evidence on the topic. We look at definitions of social capital, measurement and proxies, types of social capital, and mechanisms and application. The article concludes with concrete policy recommendations for disaster managers, government decision makers, and nongovernmental organizations for increasing resilience to catastrophe through strengthening social infrastructure at the community level.
Citations
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