This study analyzes the role of ritual for enhancing the capacity of a community in Nepal to adapt to disaster risk. Personal accounts of 1934 earthquake survivors of Lalitpur City were recorded and analyzed to better understand the social dynamics that occurred during this event. This data was supplemented and expanded upon with more recent interviews, observations, and other forms of evidence concerning the experiences of modern-day residents in this community. We employ structural ritualization theory and its key concepts—salience, repetitiveness, homologousness, and resources—to investigate how ritualized symbolic practices contribute to the social capacity of a community to cope with disasters. Findings reveal that people engage in various ritualized activities before, during, and after disasters and these practices enhance their ability to cope with such situations and revive a normal social life. Finally, implications of this study and the need for further research are discussed.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine how social capital operated in the lives of 15 respondents from Lalitpur following the massive 1934 Kathmandu Valley earthquake. Based on experiences of the survivors, it attempts to understand how individuals and families utilized their social capital in the aftermath of the earthquake, and rebuild their lives and communities. Design/methodology/approach -This is a qualitative study based on non-structured interviews and discussions with disaster victims on their own locality. Following Padgett's (2008) grounded theory approach, flexible method of data collection is adopted through interactions with respondents and following up on important cues or patterns as additional data emerged. Findings -Participants described a process through which they relied on bonding, bridging and linking social capital in different stages of earthquake response and recovery. Close ties or bonding social capital were important for immediate support, but bridging and linking social capital offered pathways to longer term survival and wider neighbourhood and community revitalization. This paper also discusses how social capital inclusion in pre-disaster communities might be helpful to strengthen their response capacity. Research limitations/implications -As the study participants were less than ten years old when the earthquake happened, they might have omitted or overlooked some important details about the event. The findings are based not only on participant's own memories, but they also shared stories told by their parents which were the indirect experiences. Practical implications -This study indicates the potential value and need for including bonding, bridging and linking social capital and traditional social networks in disaster planning. A key outcome related to disaster policy would be what institutional condition or combinations of different dimensions of social capital may serve the public for better disaster response and recovery. Originality/value -This study has paid attention to how social capital might be useful in disaster risk reduction both in post-disaster phase and in pre-disaster condition which may be rare in disaster studies. It also provides an insight into how community-based disaster management can take into account pre-existing social systems and traditional social networks to build local capacities. IntroductionOver the last decade much has been written regarding the need of policies and planning for community disaster resilience. Dynes (2006) highlights the importance of local level disaster reduction approaches as top-down institutional approaches seem to fall short of targets in building community resilience. Few other studies emphasize this approach, and draw our attention to the potential roles and contributions of social capital in community response and recovery to disasters (Bankoff, 2007;Minamoto, 2010). However, local level social capital resources and pre-existing social networks are often overlooked by policy makers in community disaster planning...

Purpose – This study reports on a survey of experienced emergency management personnel in Australia and New Zealand to identify the influence of organisational features in perceived emergency management performance. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of organisational features in emergency response performance and to discuss how this knowledge can be used to enhance the response capacity of emergency services organisations. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of the literature, a conceptual theoretical model for organisational performance is first developed based on four organisational features found to be previously important in emergency management organisation. These are, adaptability, leadership, stability (mission and direction) and stakeholder communication. An organisational survey was distributed to all 25 fire and emergency services agencies in Australia and New Zealand which included indicators of these elements. Responses were received from experienced emergency management personnel from fire and emergency services agencies. The sample was stratified into the three main organisational types, namely, established, expanding and extending organisations. Findings – The findings reveal that the predictive significance of organisational features in emergency response performance vary among established, expanding and extending organisations. The predictive significance of stability, adaptability and leadership for perceived success is strong in all organisational types. It is interesting to note that the predictive significance of communication with external stakeholders is low in all organisation types. This indicates the preference of emergency services agencies to look internally within their own operations than externally to build relationships with different specialism. Originality/value – The theoretical model in this study makes a first attempt to understand the role of organisational features in emergency response performance of organisations in Australia and New Zealand. This work contributes to theorizing emergency operations by highlighting how organisations need to manage two orientations simultaneously: their own internal as well as external orientations, together with their processes for managing both mission and direction and the need for change and flexibility.