The role of social capital in disaster resilience in remote communities after the 2015 Nepal earthquake

Datos Bibliográficos

ID22028906
AutoresSarita Panday (0000-0003-2369-1476, University of Sheffield, autor de correspondencia), Simon Rushton (0000-0003-1055-9871, University of Sheffield), Jiban Karki (0000-0002-2898-3876, University of Sheffield), Julie Balen (0000-0002-4736-8465, University of Sheffield), Amy Barnes (0000-0002-8122-9792, University of Sheffield)
Año2021
Volumen55
Páginas102112
Fecha de publicación2021-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2212-4209
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102112
OpenAlexW3127120269
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas75
Referencias citadas47

Social capital is widely regarded as a key element in recovery from and resilience to disasters. Yet, little attention has been paid to the specificities of what supports or undermines remote rural communities' social capital in disasters. Here, we examine how bonding, bridging, and linking social capital operated after the 2015 earthquake in three remote Nepali communities of Sindhupalchok and Gorkha Districts, which have varying degrees of access to infrastructure, relief and recovery programmes. We draw on community-based qualitative research conducted in 2018 (including data from Participatory Videos, Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews) to show how different forms of social capital ‘matter’ more in different phases of recovery. Immediately after the earthquake, high levels of bonding and bridging social capital among residents reduced barriers to collective action and helped efforts to rescue and support affected individuals. This dissipated, however, once external relief arrived. Already-marginalised groups with low social capital of all types were less able to access relief items and funding for rebuilding compared with those of higher social status or with political links. Pre-existing socio-cultural inequalities, including those driven by weak bonding relationships in families, gender inequalities and the remoteness of villages, further undermined communities' social capital and their resilience to the earthquake. Disaster relief programmes should target women and the elderly to improve the resilience of marginalised communities to future disasters. For long-term resilience, disaster programmes should consider social capital in terms of power and pre-existing inequalities, so that linking capital would not just serve elite groups

Business · Community resilience · Environmental planning · Geography · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration · Disaster Management and Resilience · Disaster Response and Management · Engineering