Rebuilding Asia Following Natural Disasters: Approaches to Reconstruction in the Asia-Pacific Region

Providing a detailed and comparative assessment of the humanitarian responses to a series of major disasters in Asia over the past two decades, including massive earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis, this book explores complex and changing understandings and practices of relief, recovery, and reconstruction. These critical investigations raise questions about the position and responsibilities of a growing range of stakeholders, and provide in-depth explorations of the ways in which local communities are transformed on multiple levels - not only by the impact of disaster events, but also by the experiences of rebuilding. This timely volume highlights how the experiences of Asia can contribute towards post-disaster responses globally, to safeguard future communities and reduce vulnerabilities. This is a valuable resource for academic researchers interested in post-disaster transformations and development studies, practitioners in NGOs, and government officials dealing with disaster response and disaster risk reduction.

Patrick Daly is a Senior Research Fellow at the Earth Observatory of Singapore. His research focuses upon human responses to changing environmental conditions, and long-term sequences of human-environmental interactions. He has worked extensively in Indonesia, Palestine, and Cambodia on the reconstitution of communities in post-conflict and post-disaster situations. He has spent the past decade conducting field research on community-level recovery following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
 
R. Michael Feener is Research Leader of the Religion and Globalization Research Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, and Associate Professor of History at the National University of Singapore. His research interests include religion and development, post-disaster reconstruction, law and society, Islamic Studies and Southeast Asian history, on which he has published extensively.