Crisis as a Source of Social Capital

In Democracy in America, Tocqueville famously discussed the propensity of Americans to form voluntary associations and engage in self-governance to overcome collective challenges. The “science of association” has proven to be important, especially when communities are confronted with crises like natural disasters. Not surprisingly, the scholarship on community responses to crises has tended to emphasize how community members deploy their social capital to respond effectively to crises. This literature, however, has not yet emphasized the potential of crises to be a “source” of social…

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