Limits to Social Capital: Comparing Network Assistance in Two New Orleans Neighborhoods Devastated by Hurricane Katrina

Abstract

Sociological research emphasizes that personal networks offer social resources in times of need and that this capacity varies by the social position of those involved. Yet rarely are sociologists able to make direct comparisons of such inequalities. This study overcomes this methodological challenge by examining network activation among residents of two unequal neighborhoods severely devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Results indicate that local network capacities of Lower Ninth Ward residents relative to those of the more affluent Lakeview neighborhood dissipated before, during, and after the disaster to erode the life chances of individual residents and the neighborhood they once constituted.

Emergent Leadership Structures in Informal Groups: A Dynamic, Cognitively Informed Network Model

“…Over the past few years, scholars have demonstrated that cognitively informed network theories can significantly deepen our comprehension of both the effects and processes occurring through interpersonal networks. Prior studies found that individual cognition affects people's mental representation of the network (Simpson et al, 2011), which parts of the network they activate (Smith, Menon & Thompson, 2012), and which contacts they turn to (Elliott, Haney & Sams-Abiodun, 2010). Our results complement the work by DeRue, Nahrgang, and Ashford (2015) in elucidating the socio-cognitive underpinnings of emergent leadership structures in informal groups.…”

Structure and agency in development-induced forced migration: the case of Brazil’s Belo Monte Dam

“…Social capital in particular enabled many poorer households to attain aspirations through help finding new land from family and friends in destination areas, by combining credit payments with other households to purchase a property they could not afford on their own, or through cooperating with other displaced households to find properties nearby one another. This contrasts with findings from Elliott et al (2010) that poorer households displaced by Hurricane Katrina were less able to utilize translocal social ties outside New Orleans than more well-off households—either because they lacked these ties or did not have the resources to exploit them. I find in the case of rural displacement due to Belo Monte, households utilized both their local and translocal social networks during the migration process in order to attain aspirations.…”

Disaster, Social Capital, and Health

“…In disaster settings, negative effects of social capital have been suggested (Buckland & Rahman, 1999 ;Elliott, Haney, & SamsAbiodun, 2010 ). Elliott et al ( 2010 ) reported that inequalities in social capital widen during periods after disasters. Inequalities caused less effectiveness of social safety nets for disadvantaged populations.…”