Traditional social capital and socioeconomic networks in response to flood disaster: A case study of rural areas in Sri Lanka

Social capital and socioeconomic networks are becoming increasingly recognized as important aspects of disaster related studies. This research reveals the empirical evidence of the role of traditional social capital and related socioeconomic networks, as well as their behavior during past flood inundation events in rural areas of Sri Lanka. For the case study, dozens of elderly people were selected as respondents among 15 administrative divisions in Sri Lanka, and semi-structured interviews and field observations were carried out. As a result, some significant findings are reveal that the traditional social capital plays a crucial role in reviving village livelihood affected in past flood inundation events. In addition, bonding, bridging, and linking social capital strongly help to reduce the adverse effects of past floods. Furthermore, traditional social collaboration, collective action, norms and customs, and cultural values are actually influential in the process of building traditional social capital and strengthening ties in socioeconomic networks. Accordingly, it is obvious that the native ethos and traditional preventive apparatuses are major parts of the traditional social capital for an effective response and recovery system from serious natural disasters.