Associations and Order in The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery

Can independent voluntary actions of individuals coordinate in a meaningful way to overcome the seemingly insurmountable recovery efforts necessary in the aftermath of large-scale natural disasters? Officials of the United States government assert strong skepticism at the idea, employing public works programs as substitute for the decentralized network of individuals, associations and practices. The efforts of federal disaster management are predicated on the assumption that the voluntary sector of the economy is feeble, incapacitated and must be subjugated to the authority of the federal government if recovery is possible. This assumption is what Richard Cornuelle termed The Great Misunderstanding: the idea that the state is the instrument through which collective responsibility for market failure is best exercised (1983: 10). In The Cultural and Political Economy of Recovery, Emily Chamlee-Wright leverages a hermeneutic style of economic analysis to reverse this deep seeded presumption of failure of the voluntary sector.

Find the article at Studies in Emergent Order.