The Resilience of Solidarity Networks in the Aftermath of Hurricane Maria: An Analysis of Community Sociotechnical Infrastructures

• In Event: Estrategias de organización social y mobilizacion frente a la precariedad y los desastres naturales

Abstract

This paper presents a three-level sociotechnical analysis of the role of community-based civil society organizations in the aftermath of hurricane Maria. Using data drawn from observations, interviews, social media, and official documents, we identified the ideologies, organizational configurations, and practices that allowed these organizations not only withstand the aftermath of the Hurricane but also become hubs of communication and relief. While state and corporate infrastructures failed, community organizations provided electricity, telephone services, therapy, food, and donations. Our analysis indicates that some of the factors that contributed to their resilience included: A shared solidarity-based ideology enacted as resourceful rearrangements of their structures and technologies, and an activate state independent collaborative network. This study highlights the importance of state-independent community organizations and provides learned lessons to support them.

Author

• Fatima K Espinoza Vasquez, University of Kentucky