Community Disaster Recovery and Resiliency

DeMond Shondell Miller is a Professor of Sociology and Director of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Institute for Research and Community Service at Rowan University (Glassboro, New Jersey). He has worked as principal investigator to facilitate research projects involving natural and human-induced ecological disasters, environmental issues, and community satisfaction. His primary area of specialization is environmental sociology (disaster studies and the study of the social construction of place), community development and community organizing, and social impact assessment. Dr. Miller has presented and published several professional papers; recent examples of such work can be found in Space and Culture: An International Journal of Social Spaces, International Journal of the Humanities, Journal of Black Studies, The Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, Sociological Spectrum, and The International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research. Recently, he has contributed to several edited volumes including Through the Eye of Katrina: Social Justice in the United States and The Sociology of Katrina: Perspectives on a Modern Catastrophe; he is the co-author of Hurricane Katrina and the Redefinition of Landscape with Jason D. Rivera (Lexington Press) and coeditor of African American and Community Engagement in Higher Education: Community Service, Service Learning and Community-Based Research with S. Evans, C. Taylor, and M. Dunlap (State University of New York Press).Jason David Rivera is a Research Associate in the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. His research focuses on social vulnerability to natural and manmade disasters with an emphasis on minority experiences. Additionally, his research highlights institutional structures that have historically perpetuated social vulnerability within minor

… brings together leading research from top academics and scholars on the different ways various societies have experienced disasters, learned from them, and revised their thinking about building community preparedness and resiliency pre- and post-disaster. It provides a concise understanding of best practices for rebuilding community institutions and community development after a disaster; focuses on integrated solutions for ecological restoration and community development in disaster recovery planning and implementation ... compares and contrasts community rebuilding between different nations at different stages of development, economic power, and stability. … includes case studies that illustrate best practices, integrating the concept of community and community rebuilding for local, national, and international stakeholders.—MCEER, May 2011In addition to describing recent disaster recovery projects, this volume encourages national leaders to stimulate social change that makes communities more disaster resistant and develop public policy that enables a culture of resilience. The 24 chapters identify opportunities for building a community-based infrastructure, revitalizing social and economic systems, and promoting public health and safety. The contributors also recommend best practices for housing reconstruction, public-private partnerships, and disaster planning. The case studies are drawn from San Francisco, New Orleans, Iowa, Grenada, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Bangladesh, Greece, and Israel. Miller is a professor of sociology at Rowan University, and Rivera is a research associate in public policy at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. —In Research Book News, booknews.com, February 2011

• The Unique Opportunities and Challenges from a Social Scientific Perspective. The Opportunities and Challenges for Building a Community-Based Institutional Infrastructure. Opportunities and Challenges for Social and Cultural Revitalization. Opportunities and Challenges for Economic Recovery. Opportunities and Challenges for Public Health and Safety. Opportunities and Challenges for Housing and Housing Policy. Opportunities and Challenges for Private Public Partnerships. Opportunities and Challenges for Disaster Mitigation.