Organizing After Disaster the (Re)Emergence of Organization Within Government After Katrina (2005) and the Touhoku Tsunami (2011)
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Institut d'études politiques de Paris ECOLE DOCTORALE DE SCIENCES PO Programme doctoral de sociologie Centre de sociologie des organisations Doctorat en sociologie Organizing After Disaster The (Re)Emergence of Organization within Government after Katrina (2005) and the Touhoku Tsunami (2011) Malka Older Thesis supervised by Olivier BORRAZ, Directeur de recherche CNRS, Sciences Po, Centre de sociologie des organisations Defended on 18th April 2019 Jury: Mr. Arjen Boin, Professor of Public Institutions and Governance, Universiteit Leiden Mr. Olivier Borraz, Directeur de recherche CNRS, Sciences Po, Centre de sociologie des organisations (thesis supervisor) Mr. François Dedieu, Chargé de recherche INRA (rapporteur) Mr. Patrick Le Galés, Directeur de recherche CNRS, Sciences Po, Centre d’études européennes Ms. Sandrine Revet, Directrice de recherche Sciences Po, Centre de recherches internationales Ms. Diane Vaughan, Professor of Sociology, Columbia University (rapporteur) 2 Dedication To all the humanitarian responders and emergency managers, trained and accidental, who did their best and still feel terrible that they couldn’t do more. 3 4 Acknowledgments I am extremely grateful to Olivier Borraz, who guided the long process of reading, research, and writing of this thesis with both patience and rigor. He agreed to take me on as a doctoral student in spite of my decidedly non-traditional background, and supported me through every step of the way. The ensemble of the Centre de Sociologie des Organisations was also wonderfully welcoming to a foreign student with only passable French. So many of the researchers, post-docs, and students showed me kindness or helped me understand some element of French academics or bureaucracy that to attempt to name all of them would put me at risk of missing someone. Special thanks to Lydie Cabane, who showed me the ropes and helped me out in so many ways. Martha Zuber of SASE was always ready to listen to problems and ideas whether administrative or theoretical. The Alliance Program supported this dissertation with financing for an exchange semester at Columbia University. Once there, Professor Diane Vaughan pushed my research in new directions, both helpful and stimulating, while her doctoral students were equally welcoming. I pursued a second exchange program at the Fletcher School of Tufts University, where I was able to interact with other PhD students pursuing fascinating topics as well as taking advantage of the office space and library facilities they provided. A Fellowship with the Carnegie Council for International Affairs supported my second trip to Japan. As I continued to work, access to the Library of Congress, in particular the Asian Reading Room, proved invaluable. Thank you to all the interviewees who gave of their time, memories, and thoughts though I had very little to offer in return. 5 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Theoretical Frameworks and Literature Review 12 Introduction 12 Disaster Studies 13 The State and Disasters 14 Permanent, Temporary, and Emergent Organizations Within the State 19 Temporary Organizations: Literature 22 Emergent Organizations in Disasters: Literature 26 Research Questions 34 The Cases 36 Events: Hurricane Katrina and the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster 36 Disaster Management Contexts 37 Methodology 40 Locations 40 Data Collection 43 Qualitative “Most‐Different Systems” Comparison 44 International Non‐Governmental Disaster Response 45 Outline 48 Chapter 2: Crisis Management Centers 52 Introduction: Governance in a Crisis Setting 52 International Equivalent 55 Mechanisms of Emergence 56 Pre‐Disaster Assets: The Physical structure of the CMCs 58 Early Warning: from permanent to temporary organizations (Aug 23‐29, 2005 and 14:46‐~15:30 on March 11, 2011) 60 Meetings 62 Communications 65 Decision‐Making 66 Division of Tasks in the Temporary Organization 70 Landfall: Cosmology Episodes (August 29, 2005 and ~15:30, March 11, 2011) 74 Responding to a Cosmology Episode 79 Enacted Sensemaking 79 Implementation 81 Initial Response 87 Meetings 87 Emergent Divisions of Tasks 96 Planning and Feedback 107 Communications 112 Decision‐Making 117 Conclusion 126 Chapter 3: Emergency Operations 130 Introduction: Action, the State, and Emergent Organizations 130 The Role of Operational Teams 130 The Role of the State 132 Mechanisms of Operational Re‐emergence 136 Sectors 140 Shelter 140 International Frameworks 141 6 Defining the Task 143 Division of Labor 150 Coordinating with Other Actors 157 Shelter: Responsibility fueling improvisation 162 Logistics 163 International Frameworks 164 Defining the Task 166 Division of Labor 172 Coordination with Other Actors 181 Continuing to Define the Task 186 Logistics: Similar struggles, different priorities 192 Discussion 193 Conclusion 195 Chapter 4: Evaluation Reports 198 Introduction 198 The Paradox of the Disaster and the State 198 The Evaluation Report as Framing Device 200 Narratives of Exceptionalism 203 An Improvised Return to Normalcy 206 Improvised Evaluations 207 Purpose (Stated and Otherwise) 209 Methodologies 213 Varied Structures 218 Sectoral Breakdowns 218 Overarching Structure 227 Facts versus Recommendations 229 Context Beyond Operational 232 Narrative versus Data 233 Missing Pieces 234 The Disappearance of Emergence 236 Conclusion 239 Conclusion 241 Introduction 241 Decentralization and Re‐emergence 241 Results 243 Re‐emergent Organizations 243 The Paradox of Disasters for the Modern State 245 Disaster Response as Public Policy 249 References 253 Annex 1: Interview List 261 United States Interviews 261 Japan Interviews 262 7 List of Acronyms AAR: After-Action Report ADRC: Asian Disaster Reduction Center ARC: American Red Cross CMC: crisis management center DC: distribution center DHS: United States Department of Homeland Security DOT: United States Department of Transportation EMAC: emergency mutual aid compact EMON: emergent multiorganizational networks EOC: emergency operations center EPA: United States Environmental Protection Agency ESF: emergency support function FCO: federal coordinating officer FEMA: United States Federal Emergency Management Agency GOP: grand old party [United States Republican party] HQ: Headquarters IAP: incident action plan ICRC: International Committee of the Red Cross ICS: incident command system IFRC: International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent JICA: Japanese International Cooperation Agency KPI: key performance indicator 8 LOHSEP: Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness MEMA: Mississippi Emergency Management Agency MLIT: Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism MRE: meals ready to eat NEMIS: National Emergency Management Information System NGO: non-governmental organization NIMS: national incident management system NPO: non-profit organization NRC: Norwegian Refugee Council OFDA: United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance O-period: operational period PD-HL: post-disaster humanitarian logistics PoD: point of distribution R & R: rest and relaxation RC: refuge center SCO: state coordinating officer SDF: Self-Defense Forces [Japanese military] UN: United Nations UNHCR: The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees US: United States of America 9 List of Figures and Tables Figure 1: Typology of Organizational Functioning in Disasters 27 Figure 2: Map of southeastern United States 39 Figure 3: Map of southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi 39 Figure 4: Map of Harrison County, MS 39 Figure 5: Map of Hancock County, MS 39 Figure 6: Map of Pearl River County, MS 40 Figure 7: Map of Saint Tammany Parish, LA 40 Figure 8: Map of northeastern Japan 41 Figure 9: Map showing research sites in Japan 41 Figure 10: Table comparing ESFs and clusters 69 Figure 11: Groups spun off from the Miyagi Prefecture Response Group 96 Figure 12: The Iwate CMC structure before and after March 25, 2011 98 Figure 13: Table of tasks and numbers of individuals assigned to them in Rikuzentakata 101 Figure 14: Original goods group workflow in Miyagi 175 Figure 15: Goods group workflow from 18 March 175 Figure 16: Goods group workflow from 1 April 175 Figure 17: Rikuzentakata evaluation methodology 213 Figure 18: Sectoral breakdowns in US reports 217-219 Figure 19: Sectoral breakdowns in Japanese reports 221-222 Figure 20: Iwate Prefecture Disaster Mitigation Communication Map 224 10 11 Chapter 1: Theoretical Frameworks and Literature Review Introduction Disaster management has become an increasingly important area for modern governments. States around the world are developing disaster management agencies, plans, and procedures in an attempt to maintain their roles and services during disruption. However, as large disasters demonstrate on a regular basis, even wealthy, stable, and theoretically well-prepared governments experience failure in the wake of a catastrophe. Disasters overwhelm plans and collapse government organizations, which sometimes manage to rebuild into something new. What mechanisms do organizations use to re-emerge after a collapse? How do government organizations, specifically, balance the need to reckon with failure with the importance of maintaining authority and the image of control and stability? What does this tell us about how the State conceives of its role in disasters? This dissertation examines these questions through qualitative readings of two disasters that overwhelmed the wealthy and democratic States where they occurred: Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast of the United States