Emily Chamlee-Wright

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE NEW ORLEANS : SENSE OF PLACE AND COMMUNITY RECOVERY IN THE NINTH WARD AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA

ABSTRACT: This study contributes to the literature on the strength of place attachment, identity, and dependence in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. It also engages the literature concerning the role of sense of place in community engagement and the disruption in place attachment, identity, and dependence that natural disasters can cause. By drawing on interview data collected from residents who returned to New Orleans after the storm and from former New Orleanians who evacuated to Houston but did not return, this article investigates the “sense of place” that residents in Ninth Ward New Orleans neighborhoods identify in their narratives about their pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina experiences. The data considered here suggest that returning residents believe that New Orleans in general (and their Ninth Ward neighborhoods in particular) possess a unique bundle of characteristics that, when taken together, cannot be found or replicated elsewhere. While sense of place is an important motivator for returning residents, the data also suggest that complementary factors must be in place if the full potential of this social resource is to be realized.

Social Capital as Collective Narratives and Post-Disaster Community Recovery

This paper examines how social capital aids in post-disaster community recovery and redevelopment. While previous studies on social capital and post-disaster recovery have tended to focus on social networks as a source of necessary assistance, the primary focus of this study is on how social capital in the form of collective narratives affects post-disaster recovery. We argue that collective narratives can shape the recovery strategies that individuals adopt. To illustrate this we examine the post-Katrina recovery efforts in St. Bernard Parish, an area devastated by flooding and significant environmental damage. In particular, we focus on the shared narrative that dominated qualitative interview data collected in St. Bernard, namely, its shared identity as a close-knit, family-oriented community comprised of hard workers. This narrative led community members to adopt a strategy that emphasized self-reliance.

The Structure of Social Capital: An Austrian Perspective on its Nature and Development

Abstract As the literature on social capital has emerged over the past two decades, both advocates and critics of the concept have grappled with the question ‘what is the nature of “social capital?”’. By viewing this question through the lens of Austrian capital theory (particularly under Lachmanns influence) we can understand social capital as being structural in nature, made up of heterogeneous and often complementary elements. This way of thinking about social capital opens the door for understanding the role of the ‘social entrepreneur’ as discovering new combinations within the social capital structure. By carving out a role for the change agent, we see social capital development as a process of social learning that extends the cognitive reach of individuals beyond what they can know directly. An Austrian approach to social capital advances the theoretical debate by linking the literature on network analysis (in which the focus is on individualistic accumulation of social capital) and broader questions of social capital embedded within community-wide norms. Further, an Austrian understanding of social capital informs policy debates, such as the question of whether social capital development can be, or needs to be, part of a deliberate development strategy.

Savings and Accumulation Strategies of Urban Market Women in Harare, Zimbabwe

The literature on female entrepreneurship inWest Africa is vast and still growing. Historical accounts of precolonial West Africa indicate that women played a critical role in the development of market trading in the region, particularly in local and near-distant markets. The literature on Ghanaian market women, in particular, portrays urban traders as forming a robust entrepreneurial class. Traders in Southern Ghana have developed elaborate systems of accumulating capital, and they have used their matrilineal kinship ties to secure long-lasting economic relationships that enable them to develop their businesses, withstand economic hardship more effectively, and plan for exit and retirement from the market. The picture presented of Ghanaian culture is one in which women, though subordinate to men, are still supported as entrepreneurs.

The Political Economy of Hurricane Katrina and Community Rebound

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina posed an unprecedented set of challenges to formal and informal systems of disaster response and recovery. Informed by the Virginia School of Political Economy, the contributors to this study critically examine the public policy environment that led to both successes and failures in the post-Katrina disaster response and long-term recovery. Building from this perspective, this book lends critical insight into the nature of the social coordination problems disasters present, the potential for public policy to play a positive role, and the inherent limitations policymakers face in overcoming the myriad challenges that are a product of catastrophic disaster.

Indigenous African Institutions and Economic Development

In the attempt to establish institutions which foster economic development in the third world, economists often look to the West as a model. This indeed has been the case in Ghana, West Africa. In Ghana’s urban centers, the large buildings which house Barclay’s Bank, Standard Charter Bank, and Ghana Commercial Bank loom over the traditional market stalls and street traders. This sight might be heartening to those who recognize third world entrepreneurs’ limited access to capital as the primary constraint in advancing economic development. Indeed, these institutions play an important role in financing large scale industry and high volume import and export exchange. But this is only a small proportion of market activity in Ghana, The majority of business people never enter the doors of such institutions. The most striking feature of West African markets is the overwhelming proportion of female traders. While a few items will traditionally be sold by men, most of the trading activity is conducted by women. For example, the United Nations Development Fund estimates that 80 percent of all food production, processing, and marketing in West Africa is carried out by women. While limited access to capital is of general concern to development theorists, the limits facing female entrepreneurs are considered to be particularly severe (Simms 1981). The presence of formal Western-style credit institutions has done little to alter the situation.This edited volume, a collection of both theoretical essays and empirical studies, presents an Austrian economics perspective on the role of culture in economic action. The authors illustrate that culture cannot be separated from economic action, but that it is in fact part of all decision-making.

Introduction: Uncertainty and Discovery in a Post-Disaster Context

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina posed an unprecedented set of challenges to formal and informal systems of disaster response and recovery. Informed by the Virginia School of Political Economy, the contributors to this study critically examine the public policy environment that led to both successes and failures in the post-Katrina disaster response and long-term recovery. Building from this perspective, this book lends critical insight into the nature of the social coordination problems disasters present, the potential for public policy to play a positive role, and the inherent limitations policymakers face in overcoming the myriad challenges that are a product of catastrophic disaster.