The Cultural Imprint onReconstruction After Disaster

David AlexanderUniversity College London

Proposition 1: Human culture offersopportunities and constraints to disaster risk reduction (DRR). Working with it, much can be achieved; working against it, even valid projects will fail because

they are not culturally compatible.

Proposition 2: Culture can be changedto make it more amenable to DRR – butonly very slowly and with much effort.

Sardinia, 17 Nov. 2013 - 16 dead in floods

Although Italy has a disaster responsecapability of unparalleled excellence,

its political, administrative, religious andsocial cultures are currently not amenable

to planned disaster risk reduction.

A model of culture

Organisationalsystems:management

Socialsystems:behaviour

Naturalsystems:function

Technicalsystems:

malfunction

VulnerabilityHazard

Resilienc

e

Politicalsystems:decisions

Diffusion of information

Perceptual filter

Cultural filter

Emergency not decoded

Emergency decoded

Ignorance

Imagesof reality

Symbolicconstructions

Enlightenment

Long term

Short term

Emic components

Etic components

METAMORPHOSISOF CULTURE

Experiences of culture[mass-media and consumer culture]

Accumulated cultural traits and beliefs

Inherited cultural background

Ideological(non-scientific)interpretations

of disaster

Learned(scientific)

interpretationsof disaster

Retribution Judgement Portent

DISASTERMEANING ACCEPTANCE

Retrospectiveinterpretation

Predictiveinterpretation

Traditional view of disaster - modern parallels?

Symbolisminherent in

technologicalculture

Traditionalsymbolism

and portent

Event

Interpretation

Dynamic culturalmetamorphosis

Valuesystem

Familyculture

Workculture

Peergroupculture

Personalculture

National culture

Regional culture

Riskamplification

factors

Riskmitigationfactors

Totalvulnerability

Risk perceptionfactors- +

positivenegative

DIALECTIC

Filter

Perception

Culture

Decision

Action

Result

Positive Negative

Risk

Accurate Inaccurate

On government

Externalhazards

Technological,economic andsocial issues

Operational andpolicy risks

Stewardshiprole

Regulatoryrole

Managementrole

GOVERNMENT

Policyadoption

Risk assessment• hazard• vulnerability• exposure

Policy assessment• costs• benefits• consequences

Disaster

Expectedlosses

Risk PolicyAssessment

Recoveryafter disaster

Physical recoveryBuildings, infrastructure, transport, agriculture, etc.

Reducing post-traumatic stress

Re-establishingproduction and

economic activities

The recovery triangle

Political,cultural andenvironmental

context.

• revitalisation of city centres

• contraction of city spaces

• improvement of public transport

• making urban areas safer

• stimulating community and occupation.

Disaster as opportunity

Negative: livelihoods and homes need rehabilitating as quickly as possible.

Positive: time gives opportunityfor consultation and allows problems

to be solved as they appear, not at the end when all is done.

The importance of time in reconstruction

Varying context:• political• economic• social

STAGNATION RECONSTRUCTION

EMERGENCYRESPONSE

SHORT-TERMRECOVERY

MEDIUM-TERMRECOVERY

LONG-TERMRECOVERY

IMPACT

P E S

P E S

P E S

CULTURALCONTEXT

On resilience

Causes of disasternatural geophysical,technological, social

Historysingle andcumulativeimpactof pastdisasters

Humancultures

constraintsand

opportunitiesIMPACTS

Adaptationto risk

RESILIENCE

physicalenvironmental

socialeconomic

health-relatedcultural

educationalinfrastructuralinstitutional

RESILIENCECOPING

VULNERABILITYFRAGILITY

SUSCEPTIBILITYOrganisation:• public admin.• private sector• civil society

Community

Individual

Resilience: facets...

...and relationships

BENIGN (healthy)at the service of the people

MALIGN (corrupt)at the service of vested interests

interplay dialectic

Justification Development

[spiritual, cultural, political, economic]

IDEOLOGY CULTURE

Lisbon,post 1755:monumental

reconstruction

A monument not wanted.

Kesennuma City

Cultural conflict betweenthe desire to commemorateand the desire to forget.

Town of Gibellina,Belice Valley, Sicilyafter the 1968earthquake (Italy)

An ambitious"social engineering"project to createa sophisticatedpost-modern townout of anagriculturalsettlement.

Conclusions

CREATIONOF A NEWCULTUREOF CIVIL

PROTECTIONPOTENTIALTO BE

EXPLOITED

DEMAND

NEEDS

SUPPLY

Resilientculture

Culture ofresilience

INSTRUMENTS OFDISSEMINATION

• mass media• targeted campaign• social networks

• internet

Augmentation

MASSEDUCATIONPROGRAMME

SOCIALCAPITAL

HABIT

CULTURE

The creation of a culture of civil protection

• 'window of opportunity' for bad things

• disaster reveals socio-economic ills

• amplifies corruption and inequality

• hope was at the bottom of the box.

"Pandora's box" model of disaster

• disaster acts as a mirror of whatis generally wrong with society

THE PILLARS OF MODERN LIFE

idealismprinciplebelieffaith

fanaticismultranationalismauthoritarianism

backlash

virtuecharityservicedefence of principles

unscrupulousnesscorruption

opportunismcensure

capital availabilitywealth diffusionfinancial security

financial repressiondebt burdenconsumerism

ingegnuitypragmatismtechnological progress

crass materialismgalloping consumption

pollution and wastetechnological hegemony

Ideocentrism

Morality

Luchrocentrism

Technocentrism

SPI

RIT

FLESH

PHILOSOPH

ICAL

MECHANISTIC

Positive Negative

...culturally conditioned.

Ideocentrism+ ideal: effective disaster mitigation- fanaticism: politicization of humanitariam relief

Morality+ virtue: untiring application of mitigation measures- corruption: failure to observe building codes

Luchrocentrism+ financial security: monetary reserves vs. disaster- financial repression: poverty --> vulnerability

Technocentrism+ ingenuity: new hazard monitoring systems- technological hegemony: unfair distribution of

mitigation benefits

david.alexander@ucl.ac ukemergency-planning.blogspot.comwww.slideshare.com/dealexander

Thank you for your attention!

Ishinomaki