Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans: What Might a Sociological Embeddedness Perspective Offer Disaster Research and Planning?

Iversen, Roberta Rehner; Armstrong, Annie Laurie

The Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans situation was commonly called a “natural disaster”—an anomalous “event” that disrupted lives, spaces, and organizations. Research and planning attention then focused on particular aspects of the event and on restoring order. In contrast, sociologists and similar-thinking scholars have increasingly viewed disaster situations from multiple locations and histories, often using systems theory. Here, reanalysis of empirical material from ethnographic research in New Orleans pre- and post-Katrina suggests that a sociological embeddedness perspective illustrates the dynamic seamlessness of past, present, and future economic contexts and social actions. The perspective's constitutive concepts of weak, strong, and differentiated ties highlight the role of local knowledge, intermediary-led workforce networks, and sustained participatory planning in creating a robust economic environment. Toward this end, disaster research, planning, and theory building could incorporate network tie assessments into social vulnerability protocols, compare embeddedness with other perspectives, and learn from related international experiences.

NEW Orleans (La.); LOUISIANA; UNITED States; HURRICANE Katrina, 2005; DISASTER relief research; SOCIAL action; SOCIOLOGY; ECONOMICS

Analyses of Social Issues & Public Policy, 2008, Vol 8, Issue 1, p183

1529-7489

Academic Journal

10.1111/j.1530-2415.2008.00164.x