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Unlimited
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Authorized users
Access notes
DRM-Free
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Can lend chapters, not whole books
Title
Connecting After Chaos : Social Media and the Extended Aftermath of Disaster / Stephen F. Ostertag.
ISBN
9781479815333
Published
New York, NY : New York University Press, [2023]
Copyright
©2023
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource : 17 b/w illustrations
Other Standard Identifiers
10.18574/nyu/9781479815333.001.0001 doi
Call Number
HV551.2 .O77 2023
Dewey Decimal Classification
363.34
Summary
A riveting portrait of how one community used the power of culture to restore their lives and socialconnections in the years after a devastating natural disasterNatural disasters and other such catastrophes typically attract large-scale media attention and public concern in their immediate aftermath. However, rebuilding efforts can take years or even decades, and communities are often left to repair physical and psychological damage on their own once public sympathy fades away. Connecting After Chaos tells the story of how people restored their lives and society in the months and years after disaster, focusing on how New Orleanians used social media to cope with trauma following Hurricane Katrina.Stephen F. Ostertag draws on almost a decade of research to create a vivid portrait of life in "settling times," a term he defines as a distinct social condition of prolonged insecurity and uncertainty after disasters. He portrays this precarious state through the story of how a group of strangers began blogging in the wake of Katrina, and how they used those blogs to put their lives and their city back together. In the face of institutional failure, weak authority figures, and an abundance of chaos, the people of New Orleans used social media to gain information, foster camaraderie, build support networks, advocate for and against proposed policies, and cope with trauma. In the efforts of these bloggers, Ostertag finds evidence of the capacity of this and other forms of cultural work to motivate, guide, and energize collective action aimed at weathering the constant instability of extended recovery periods. Connecting After Chaos is both a compelling story of a community in crisis and a broader argument for the power of social media and cultural cooperation to create order when chaos abounds.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Aug 2023)
Frontmatter
Contents
Preface
Introduction: Desperation and Strength in the Wake of Disaster
1 Settling Times: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Destruction of a City
2 From Personal Disaster and Collective Trauma: The Turn to Blogs
3 Collective Trauma with Blogs: The Growth of a Local Blogosphere
4 Communicating Trauma: The Making and Sharing of Culture across Blogs
5 The Creation of a Collective Discourse: Forging a New Cultural Resource
6 Blogging and Collective Actions: Mobilizing over the Settling Period
7 As the City Settles: Predictability, Routine, and Fatigue
8 Communicating Culture: Ritual, Drama, and Blogs
Conclusion: Rethinking Culture and Action
Acknowledgments
Methodological and Theoretical Appendix
Notes
References
Index
About the Author
