Post Disaster Governance, Complexity and Network Theory

This research aims to understand the organizational network typology of large-scale disaster intervention in developing countries and to understand the complexity of post-disaster intervention, through the use of network theory based on empirical data from post-tsunami reconstruction in Aceh, Indonesia, during 2005/2007. The findings suggest that the ‘ degrees of separation’ (or network diameter) between any two organizations in the field is 5, thus reflecting ‘small world’ realities and therefore making no significant difference with the real human networks, as found in previous experiments. There are also significant loops in the network reflecting the fact that some actors tend to not cooperate, which challenges post disaster coordination. The findings show the landscape of humanitarian actors is not randomly distributed. Many actors were connected to each other through certain hubs, while hundreds of actors make ‘scattered’ single ‘principal-client’ links. The paper concludes that by understanding the distribution of degree, centrality, ‘degrees of separation’ and visualization of the network, authorities can improve their understanding of the realities of coordination, from macro to micro scales.