Geographies of the evolution of social capital legacies in response to flood disasters in rural and urban areas in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Social capital is increasingly recognized as an instrumental aspect of disaster mitigation and management. The purpose of this research is to examine the empirical evidence of the evolution of social capital as well as their geographies during past flood disasters in rural and urban areas in Sri Lanka. For the case study, 405 affected households were surveyed through simple random sampling in 21 local administrative divisions in Sri Lanka. Focus group interviews and field observations were also carried out. The research is based on the mixed-research method approach and mainly relied on the qualitative data analyzing mechanism. Significant findings reveal that social capital evolved at different flood inundation phases (e.g. before, during, and after) and played a pivotal role in revivifying village livelihoods affected in past flooding events. In addition, bonding, bridging, and linking social capital strongly helped to reduce the adverse effects of past floods. Reciprocal support and resource mobilization have greatly helped secure and revive flood-affected livelihoods; examples include providing information, food, water, shelter, and other basic needs; helping with evacuation, including the recovery, transport, and return of belongings; cleaning up contaminated households and public places; and providing emotional and financial support. Moreover, geographical diversity is observed in social capital legacies and the evolution of reciprocal support.