Rethinking Community Resilience: The Politics of Disaster Recovery in New Orleans

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.

About the Author :
Min Hee Go is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. Her research interests broadly concern key issues in urban politics, including inequality, sustainable development, and civic participation. Prior to joining Ewha, Go earned her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and taught as Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College, the City University of New York (CUNY).

Review :
"Rethinking Community Resilience is a critical, timely account about the effects and limits of community action in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Transcending the neighborhoods-in-the-lead narratives that dominated New Orleans's recovery, Min Hee Go's sobering findings illuminate how resident action alone could not overcome the structural racism that led to unequal disaster effects and inequitable recoveries, and how neighborhood scale successes could lead to exclusionary redevelopment and reduce resilience in other ways. As the memory of Hurricane Katrina recedes, the relationships between neighborhoods and local public action in Rethinking Community Resilience are more relevant than ever for researchers, planners, policymakers alike who are investigating neighborhood change and facing disaster recovery and climate adaptation." - Renia Ehrenfeucht, co-author of Urban Revitalization: Remaking Cities in a Changing World "Within the context of both climate change and long-term population decline, Rethinking Community Resilience examines how well-intentioned community led recovery efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans were often incomplete and haphazard, deepening pre-crisis inequities and increasing the city's overall susceptibility to future risk. Min Hee Go interrogates the romanticized notion that civic action can uniformly fill the void created by incompetent or weakened government and enable residents to overcome crises and create more resilient communities." - Marla K. Nelson, Associate Professor, University of New Orleans