Maintaining and creating social infrastructures: Towards a theory of resilience

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/PoemConference contribution

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Societies rely on the social infrastructure for proper societal function. When crises emerge, the importance of the social infrastructure magnifies as people often rely on others, both known and unknown, for support. For citizens experiencing a war environment, however, societal trust can be affected and we show how technologies are used to maintain and create social infrastructures for resilience. Through interviews with 45 Iraqi civilians who had lived through the 2nd Gulf War, we found that people were able to evoke the social infrastructure through technological resources to maintain practices for work, to obtain goods and services, and to receive contextual support. We then theorize properties of social infrastructure that could be developed into affordances for new technologies to promote resilience during crises.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationISCRAM 2015 Conference Proceedings - 12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management
EditorsLeysia A. Palen, Tina Comes, Monika Buscher, Amanda Lee Hughes, Leysia A. Palen
PublisherInformation Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM
Pages321-328
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9788271177881
StatePublished - 2015
Event12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM 2015 - Kristiansand, Norway
Duration: May 24 2015May 27 2015

Publication series

NameISCRAM 2015 Conference Proceedings - 12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management
Volume2015-January

Other

Other12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM 2015
Country/TerritoryNorway
CityKristiansand
Period5/24/155/27/15

Keywords

  • Crisis
  • Disruption
  • Human infrastructure
  • Resilience
  • Social infrastructure
  • Technology
  • War

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Information Systems
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Information Systems and Management
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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