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Societies
Special Issues
Resilient Communities
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Resilient Communities

A special issue of Societies (ISSN 2075-4698).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (23 February 2023) | Viewed by 7927

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Carl Milofsky

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837, USA
Interests: nonprofit organizations; community organizations; small organizations; NGOs in nonwestern countries; community organizing; sociology of medicine; sociology of prisons
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Albert D. Hunter

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60601, USA
Interests: urban sociology; sociology of communities; nonprofit organizations; rhetoric of social research; urban planning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ram A. Cnaan

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Interests: social work; religion; philanthropy; nonprofit management; voluntarism; Israel; social innovation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Policy makers and communities respond to crises in formal and informal ways.  The Special Issue explores community resilience from the perspectives of sociology and social history.

We invite papers which focus on community resilience from the perspectives of a variety of disciplines.  The Special Issue will include  analytic discussions about the nature of community. It will also include ethnographic and historical accounts on how social policies develop and respond to empirical situations. This Special Issue will also explore how community problem solving develops; how disasters and disruptions are experienced; and how the history of community life before, during, and after crises shapes the collective response. It will include papers from a conference on community resilience held in Israel, Jan 3-5, 2023, but other submissions are invited.

There was an earlier, slightly different Special Issue that we are editing is stilling calling for papers. If you found your submission is more suitable for the topic "Nonprofit Organizations and Societal Approaches to Policy", please submit in the following website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/societies/special_issues/Nonprofit_Organizations_and_Societal_Approaches_to_Policy.

Tentative Completion Schedule

Abstract Submission Deadline: 9 January 2023
Notification of Abstract Acceptance: 1 February 2023
Full Manuscript Deadline: 23 February 2023

Prof. Dr. Carl Milofsky
Prof. Dr. Albert Hunter
Prof. Dr. Ram Cnaan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • community
  • community resilience
  • sociology of policy
  • community responses to conflict
  • Israeli communities
  • communities and Israeli war of independence
  • nonprofit organizations and community
  • associations and communities

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 284 KiB  
Article
Community on the Margins: The Social Consolidation of the HaTikvah Neighborhood in the Late Mandate Period and during Early Israeli Statehood
by Elia Etkin
Societies 2023, 13(9), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13090207 - 11 Sep 2023
Viewed by 924
Abstract
The definition and analysis of disadvantaged neighborhoods have been rethought in recent years, with the goal of trying to surpass the monolithic identification of all marginal neighborhoods and move towards an analysis of the social, urban, and national circumstances that create marginal neighborhoods [...] Read more.
The definition and analysis of disadvantaged neighborhoods have been rethought in recent years, with the goal of trying to surpass the monolithic identification of all marginal neighborhoods and move towards an analysis of the social, urban, and national circumstances that create marginal neighborhoods in a particular country under specific historical circumstances. This paper offers a micro-historical case study that allows us to examine the social consolidation and civic engagement of a marginal urban community residing in the HaTikvah neighborhood, next to the city of Tel Aviv, during the period between the mid-1930s and the early 1950s. It argues that the residents’ identifications and actions stemmed from an intersectional marginality that was composed of their low socio-economic status, their ethnic origin as Oriental Jews, the geographic location of the neighborhood, and its lack of municipal status. Taking into consideration the circumstances of British Mandatory rule and the processes of the consolidation of the Jewish national society in Palestine as a European society, this paper unveils the struggles of the community vis à vis various institutions for the purposes of recognition, the improvement of living conditions, and, subsequently, the preservation of the fabric of life in the neighborhood. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Communities)
15 pages, 260 KiB  
Article
Resilient Communities in Disasters and Emergencies: Exploring their Characteristics
by Carl Milofsky
Societies 2023, 13(8), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13080188 - 12 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1132
Abstract
This paper discusses the capacity of communities to be resilient in the face of disasters. This is the question of what allows communities to rebuild after a major destructive event and preferably to “build back better.” The paper lists six qualities of resilient [...] Read more.
This paper discusses the capacity of communities to be resilient in the face of disasters. This is the question of what allows communities to rebuild after a major destructive event and preferably to “build back better.” The paper lists six qualities of resilient communities drawn from the literature researching these events: organizations are flexible; they have strong leadership; there is strong community learning; they are effective at collective problem solving and cooperation; social capital and civil society are strong; and communities effectively engage with helping institutions beyond their boundaries. The paper relates each quality to social capital, to the ways the three types of social capital—bonding, bridging, and linking—are interconnected, and to preparatory methods that might be used to strengthen social capital so that communities may be more resilient. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Communities)
12 pages, 246 KiB  
Article
Fostering Community Impact through Social Capital: Rent Control Policy in Palestine and Israel Amid Crises and Transitions
by Maya Mark
Societies 2023, 13(8), 175; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13080175 - 25 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1605
Abstract
The article aims to link the theoretical framework of social capital with historical analysis. It traces a controversy of half a century between landlords and tenants in Palestine and Israel and their attempts to influence the government’s policy in the rental market during [...] Read more.
The article aims to link the theoretical framework of social capital with historical analysis. It traces a controversy of half a century between landlords and tenants in Palestine and Israel and their attempts to influence the government’s policy in the rental market during crisis and transitions. The article portrays social capital as a decisive factor in the success or failure of landlords and tenants to promote their group interests and impact rent control policy. However, as the two groups are competing over the same resource, the triumph of one group comes at the direct expense of the other. In that respect, social capital could act as “double-edged sword”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Communities)
14 pages, 278 KiB  
Article
Who Provides Resilience to the Community Resilience Providers?
by Inbar Livnat and Michal Almog-Bar
Societies 2023, 13(7), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13070164 - 13 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 943
Abstract
The article focuses on employees of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) as an essential component of community resilience. Forty women, professionals in the helping professions, were interviewed about their work experiences as employees in social service NPOs. The interviews were conducted from 2019 to 2020, [...] Read more.
The article focuses on employees of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) as an essential component of community resilience. Forty women, professionals in the helping professions, were interviewed about their work experiences as employees in social service NPOs. The interviews were conducted from 2019 to 2020, mostly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand those employees’ perceptions of work conditions, contracting-out of social services, professional community and relationships with co-workers, work–life balance, job satisfaction, and their future plans. The findings present loneliness at work and lacking of a sense of community and a strong sense of mission while facing a challenging environment and work conditions in NPOs. In the discussion, we offer a complementary understanding of solidarity and resilience in NPOs—and we elaborate on the lack of professional “communitiness” and its possible harmful effect on the resilience of wider communities in times of crisis—when resilience is mostly needed. The paper presents NPOs employees as critical actors in producing resilience, hence there exists a need to examine their work environment, job perceptions, and the latter’s contribution to their own resilience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Communities)
16 pages, 27518 KiB  
Article
Repositioning Ethnicity and Transnationalism: Community Resilience Strategies among the Non-Migratory Segment of Turkish Jewry
by Aviad Moreno and Tamir Karkason
Societies 2023, 13(7), 161; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13070161 - 07 Jul 2023
Viewed by 914
Abstract
The methods that communities exploit to cope with national hegemonies that dispossess and exclude them have attracted the interest of migration scholars who emphasize the development of transnational strategies as community-building vehicles. Some scholars focus on migrant communities, whereas other studies analyze the [...] Read more.
The methods that communities exploit to cope with national hegemonies that dispossess and exclude them have attracted the interest of migration scholars who emphasize the development of transnational strategies as community-building vehicles. Some scholars focus on migrant communities, whereas other studies analyze the “stayers”—those who remain in the countries of origin—in their analyses of the impacts of transnational trends on these groups. Yet how such transnational dynamics influence the “stayers” among ethnonational communities whose members rapidly “repatriate” en masse to their perceived nation-state, such as the migration of Middle Eastern Jews to Israel in the era of regional decolonization and nationalization, remain understudied. This article focuses on the community of “stayers” among Turkish Jews, whose leaders sought methods to cope with the effects of rising nationalism on their community structure and the intensity of an emigration crisis that engulfed them due to the vacuum they faced after losing 40 percent of their members in 1948–1949 to Israel. We analyze Şalom, the most important newspaper that Turkish Jewry continued to publish well after 1948. To escape marginalization and to re-establish their base in Turkey, one of Şalom’s main strategies, we find, is conveying to its readership in Turkey the advantage of connecting and twinning the two national centers that had become the focal points of most of the community by 1950—the Turkish Republic and the State of Israel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Communities)
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15 pages, 232 KiB  
Article
The Riddle of Community Resilience: Neighborhood Struggles for and against Clearance in Israel 1950s–1970s
by Paula Kabalo
Societies 2023, 13(6), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13060134 - 24 May 2023
Viewed by 887
Abstract
Resilience is a concept of concern to researchers of humanitarian disasters and crises as well as relief organizations and agencies. Compelling findings in recent studies demonstrate the centrality of social networks and connections, among individuals and groups, in powering rehabilitation processes after disasters [...] Read more.
Resilience is a concept of concern to researchers of humanitarian disasters and crises as well as relief organizations and agencies. Compelling findings in recent studies demonstrate the centrality of social networks and connections, among individuals and groups, in powering rehabilitation processes after disasters and crises. Derived from this perspective is the concept of community resilience, based on Ozawa’s definition as groups and individuals working together to minimize the adverse consequences of crisis. This study aims to demonstrate that the postulate that communities can attain their objectives if only they “work together”, irrespective of their material resources, remains valid in situations of protracted crisis such as economic distress or lengthy struggle against economically or politically powerful elements. I wish to substantiate and prove this hypothesis by micro-historical reconstruction and analysis that sheds light on practices used by local neighborhood committees in view of protracted crises resulting from severe poverty and clearance plans. The article is based on two case studies harvested from the history of Israel. The first looks at Nahalat Ahim, a neighborhood in the southern segment of the Nahlaot cluster of neighborhoods in central Jerusalem, and the second, at the Shemen Beach (Hof Shemen) neighborhood of Haifa. The advantage of historical research, which by nature deals with matters already concluded, lies in its retrospective gaze on ways members of a community in crisis coped. An after-the-fact contemplation such as this, allows us to identify additional variables that may enhance our understanding of the community-resilience phenomenon in current contexts as well. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Communities)
15 pages, 290 KiB  
Article
“We Can Manage This Corona Disaster”: Psycho-Social Experiences of a Diverse Suburban Middle-Class Community in South Africa: Interview-Based Study
by Susanne Jacobs
Societies 2023, 13(4), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13040090 - 01 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 970
Abstract
The study concerns psycho-social domains experienced in a diverse suburban middle-class community, reporting the most positive cases and the deepest suffering, and interactions towards adaptation in stressful situations, such as the Coronavirus pandemic. This qualitative investigation used a descriptive design, with a strengths-based [...] Read more.
The study concerns psycho-social domains experienced in a diverse suburban middle-class community, reporting the most positive cases and the deepest suffering, and interactions towards adaptation in stressful situations, such as the Coronavirus pandemic. This qualitative investigation used a descriptive design, with a strengths-based perspective directing a two-phased method. Through non-probability convenience sampling, 80 participants completed a web-based qualitative questionnaire (phase one). From those, 20 purposely selected volunteers participated in individual, face-to-face, open-ended, and unstructured interviews (phase 2). Themes, interpreted as one set, show how strengths and resilience appear, despite extreme shock and uncertainty. Transitional processes in psycho-social spheres reveal conscious decisions towards dynamic engagement, embracing change, reflecting on life’s value, and regarding novel meaningful priorities in contrast with “before”. Most prominent relational spaces have human connections in the inner (close) and outer (community) circles. Personal, meaningful relationships strengthen social bonds. Appreciative inquiry (AI) assisted in the transitional process to co-construct awareness of the positive core, emotional agility, and pride in embracing and expanding on newly developed strengths. Interpreted inductively, meaning described in abstracted knowledge can be transferred to and integrated with other contexts, identifying new initiatives and trans-, multi-, and inter-disciplinary debates mitigating psycho-social consequences and fostering resilience during disasters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Communities)
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