Rethinking Community Resilience

The Politics of Disaster Recovery in New Orleans

Min Hee Go

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781479804900
• eBook ISBN:
  9781479804917
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: City Planning & Urban Development
• Index: Social Sciences

Explores the unintended consequences of civic activism in a disaster-prone city

After Hurricane Katrina, thousands of people swiftly mobilized to rebuild their neighborhoods, often assisted by government organizations, nonprofits, and other major institutions. In Rethinking Community Resilience, Min Hee Go shows that these recovery efforts are not always the panacea they seem to be, and can actually escalate the city's susceptibility to future environmental hazards.

Drawing upon interviews, public records, and more, Go explores the hidden costs of community resilience. She shows that—despite good intentions—recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina exacerbated existing race and class inequalities, putting disadvantaged communities at risk. Ultimately, Go shows that when governments, nonprofits, and communities invest in rebuilding rather than relocating, they inadvertently lay the groundwork for a cycle of vulnerabilities. As cities come to terms with climate change adaptation—rather than prevention—Rethinking Community Resilienceprovides insight into the challenges communities increasingly face in the twenty-first century.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction: Do Resilient Communities Make a Resilient City?
• 1. Resilient Communities in a Vulnerable City
• 2. Federalism and the Construction of Protection from Betsy to Katrina
• 3. Rebuilding the City: Reconstruction and the Paradox of Participation
• 4. Returning to the City: Community Civic Structure and Spatial Inequality
• 5. The Making of Resilient Communities
• Conclusion: Rethinking Civic Capacity and Urban Resilience
• Acknowledgments
• Methodological Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author