The Primacy of Social Capital for Community Resilience

Community and Economic Development – Blog by UNC School of Government

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The Primacy of Social Capital for Community Resilience

By Rick Morse

Published June 2, 2023

Hurricanes. Floods. Wildfires. Tornados. Earthquakes. Droughts. Blizzards. Ice storms. Infectious disease outbreaks. Pandemics.

Industrial accidents. Chemical spills. Structural collapse. Transportation accidents. Grid failure. Water contamination.

Large-scale layoffs. Factory closures. Recession. Hyperinflation. Civil unrest. Mob violence. Mass shootings. Terrorism.

Whether natural or man-made, communities everywhere, at some point, experience these adverse, often traumatic situations. If it seems like we are experiencing more community disasters and traumatic events than ever before, it is probably because we are. The data on natural disasters in the United States, at least, demonstrates a steady upward trend over time (see https://www.forbes.com/advisor/homeowners-insurance/natural-disaster-statistics). Data shows an increase in mass shootings and gun deaths in the United States over the last several years.

Natural and man-made disasters and other adverse events put enormous strain on communities. In some cases, these adverse events can tear a community apart to the point where it never fully recovers. In other cases, we see communities bouncing back, stronger than ever.

This ability to respond and recover from disruption, from crisis situations, is called community resilience. Like the idea of individual resiliency, “community resilience is a measure of the sustained ability of a community to utilize available resources to respond to, withstand, and recover from adverse situations” (RAND Corporation). Magis (2010) similarly defines it as “the existence, development and engagement of community resources by community members to thrive in an environment characterized by change, uncertainty, unpredictability and surprise” (p. 402).

Thriving in unpredictable environments.

Communities responding and recovering through difficult and even traumatic crises requires resources of various kinds. But the most important resource is arguably the least tangible—it is the ability of people in communities to mobilize community resources, to work together in a synergistic way, so the community does more than survive; rather it thrives, emerging stronger even, through the difficult times. While built capital, financial capital, natural capital, human capital, and even political capital are all important components of community resilience, it is social capital that seems to be the great differentiator.

Social capital is a term describing “the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively” (Oxford Dictionary).

Many scholars of community resilience have highlighted the key role of social capital for community resilience. Aldrich and Meyer argued for greater attention to the role of social capital in a seminal 2015 article by in the American Behavioral Scientist. They explain that “individual and community social capital networks provide access to various resources in disaster situations, including information, aid, financial resources, and child care along with emotional and psychological support” (p. 256). One reason resilience scholars historically have not paid enough attention to social capital is due to the fact that there is still some conceptual confusion around the term.

Aldrich and Meyer’s article highlights a commonly used conceptual frame of three different types of social capital:

Bonding: “connections among individuals who are emotionally close, such as friends or family, and result in tight bonds to a particular group.”

Bridging: “acquaintances or individuals loosely connected that span social groups, such as class or race.”

Linking: “connect[ing] regular citizens with those in power” (pp. 258-9).

Aldrich and Meyer observe that “bonding and bridging social capital work in complementary but distinct ways during and after crises, and communities regularly have more of one type than the other” (p. 261).

In a 2022 review article published by Carmen et al in the journal Ambio on the role of social capital and community resilience in the context of climate change, the authors find strong evidence for appreciating the different forms of social capital and the role they play in resiliency. Their findings include the following:

• “The ability of households to cope during crises was enhanced by bonding capital” as it “enhanced access to psychological and material support … [and helped] households to cope more effectively with crises.”
• “Bridging and linking social capital were also important in the immediate aftermath of crises … for enhancing access to new information, resources and support to address immediate and future material losses…”
• “Bonding combined with limited bridging social capital, however, was shown to limit whether, and how, a need for change is perceived and acted upon…”
• “Tensions around the distribution of resources in the immediate aftermath of crisis led to a longer-term loss of bridging and linking social capital” (pp. 1377-80).

The study concludes that:

Empirical findings therefore reiterate the importance of social capital for community resilience, while showing the complex ways they can interact. The many nuances in empirical findings, such as potential for certain forms of social capital to constrain community resilience, suggest underlying socio-cultural factors are particularly key. They shape structural dimensions of social capital (the type of actors involved) and what emerges (the type of outcomes and for whom) to contribute to different types of resilience.” (pp. 1383-4)

Community resilience scholar Daniel Aldrich offers this recommendation to communities facing daunting and often unknown future threats:

[By] investing in social infrastructure, we can better prepare residents and communities alike for future shocks. Resilience will come not from physical engineering—instead, it will come from bottom up responses built on local social networks. (2017, p. 363)

Social capital matters. It matters for individual and community quality of life. It matters for economic development. And it matters a whole lot for community resilience.

I have seen the power of social capital for community resilience in many different places and in many different ways. But one instance stands out and is very personal for me. I grew up in Blacksburg, Virginia and earned my PhD from Virginia Tech. My father was on the faculty at Virginia Tech for 40 years. April 16, 2007 was the day of my community’s worst crisis, its worst collective trauma, ever. On that awful day, a lone gunman shot 48 people, killing 32. The worst mass shooting on a college campus in American history. As terrible and traumatic as that event was for Blacksburg and Virginia Tech, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind who was part of that community that the community would heal and emerge stronger.

Folks in that community have a deep sense of connection to the place and to each other. It is hard to describe, let alone quantify. But the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg community (essentially one in the same) is and was resilient. And that resilience has everything to do with social capital. The sense of being a “tight knit” community, both in terms of bonding and bridging social capital, is a hallmark of the place.  And so, as anyone from that community can attest, there was no doubt in the aftermath of April 16 that we, collectively, as a community, would prevail. That is community resilience. And that has much more to do with social infrastructure than it does other kinds of tangible infrastructure.

The take-away here is that places and people that are serious about community resilience should heed Aldrich’s advice. Invest in social infrastructure. Invest in local social networks. Find ways to build bridges and enhance a sense of community among residents. It not only enhances quality of life; it builds resiliency.

In future posts, I will be highlighting efforts to build community resiliency through engagement and building social capital. If you know of good examples of those kinds of investments, please share them with me at rmorse@sog.unc.edu.