This paper revolves around Emily Chamlee Wright’s book The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery: Social Learning in a Post-Disaster Environment. It first reviews and critiques her three core arguments regarding collective action problems, communities’ social infrastructure, and post-Hurricane Katrina disaster planning and management procedures. It then examines her findings in a broad context of disaster research and policymaking before suggesting further research into social capital, the relationship between governments and the public, and effective “usable knowledge” for decision-makers.

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