CWF Seminar: Social capital: strong ties for tough times

The 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and associated tsunami and nuclear meltdowns took nearly 20,000 lives, created half a million refugees, and affected energy policies as far away as Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. In Japan, mortality rates in coastal communities in the Tohoku region were not constant; instead, they varied widely from town to town. During the recovery period, some towns have rebuilt damaged infrastructure, reopened schools, and repopulated downtowns. Others have not been as successful. What explains the variation in mortality during the tsunami and recovery after the disaster? Using data gathered from fieldwork, interviews, and surveys, Aldrich looks closely at the role of social capital and networks to provide concrete suggestions for ways to help us survive and thrive in disaster. While many of us envision disaster mitigation in terms of physical infrastructure, the findings instead point to the power of social infrastructure to reduce mortality and accelerate post-disaster recovery.

About the speaker

Professor Daniel Aldrich (Northeastern University, Boston, USA) is Director of the Security and Resilience Studies program and full Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Northeastern University. His visit to Australia is sponsored by the RMIT School of Property, Construction and Project Management.

Professor Daniel Aldrich has been a recipient of two Fulbright fellowships, an ABE Fellowship and numerous other fellowships and awards. He has published more than 45 peer-reviewed articles along with opinion pieces in the New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post, and Japan’s Asahi Shinbun. His research interests are broad and include a recent project with Facebook on the impact of social media platforms on evacuation patterns during hurricanes. He is the author of four books including Healthy, Resilient and Sustainable Communities after Disasters, with a fifth, Black Wave, forthcoming (July 2019). Professor Aldrich also chairs the American Political Science Association’s Working Group on Disasters and Crises and sits on the editorial board of several journals.