Disaster Recovery, Civil Society and Freedom

Investors' Business Daily (2/22/11) asks whether New Zealand is Stronger than Disaster.  Pointing to the rapid engagement of Kiwi civilians in cleaning up and offering mutual assistance, the article suggests that "these acts are the acts of a cohesive society steeped in freedom and democracy."   IBD points to New Zealand's consistently high rankings on multiple measures of freedom, including those of Freedom House, Transparency International, and The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom. 

Understanding how societies recover from the exogenous shocks of disaster may prove to be a critically important tool in understanding not only the endogenous characteristics of free societies but also the ways in which philanthropy can participate in disaster response/recovery activities in ways that enhance resilience for the future.

Contributing editor Emily Chamlee-Wright's 2010 book, The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery, is an important contribution to this understanding and is reviewed in the current volume of Conversations. 

Related links:

Mercatus Gulf Coast Recovery Project

Ealy article on community resilience