Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster Book Panel

Rebounding after disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods can be daunting. How do residents of these communities gain access to the resources they need to rebuild while overcoming the collective action problem that characterizes post-disaster relief efforts?

Please join the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University for a panel discussion featuring Hayek Program Senior Fellow Virgil Storr and his new book Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster: Lessons in Local Entrepreneurship.

In this book, Storr and his co-authors Stefanie Haeffele-Balch and Laura Grube argue that entrepreneurs, conceived broadly as individuals who recognize and act on opportunities to promote social change, fill the critical role of helping communities overcome the obstacles to rebound after disaster. Using examples of recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Hurricane Sandy in Rockaway, New York, the authors demonstrate how entrepreneurs promote community recovery by providing necessary goods and services, restoring and replacing disrupted social networks, and signaling that community rebound is likely and, in fact, underway. They argue that creating space for entrepreneurs to act after disasters is essential for promoting recovery and fostering resilient communities.

We will be pleased to hear from author Virgil Storr, as well as panel chair Peter Boettke and commenters Daniel Aldrich, Lori Peek, and Emily Chamlee-Wright.