On the Alternative Disaster Reconstruction in Rural Reagions and Aged Society: With Reconsidering the Resilience

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K13922
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 08010:Sociology-related
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Nozaka Shin 早稲田大学, 文学学術院, 講師(任期付) (10801798)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 災害復興 / コミュニティ / レジリエンス / resilience / 持続可能性 / 東日本大震災 / 津波災害 / 心の復興

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to present perspectives that are important for examining the disaster recovery in rural areas, I conducted continuous field surveys in Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture and Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, both of which were affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. In these surveys, I researched how local communities have been affected and recovered in the process of long-term regional change from pre-disaster to the present. Through this research, I have clarified the importance of two perspectives: (1) understanding how the coordination system within and outside the community is structured, and (2) understanding the multiple social functions of various local places and situations. In addition, based on the survey results, the concept of "resilience," which is the capacity for bouncing back after disasters inherent in the community, was rethought, and the conditions under which "resilience" is activated and the relationships among them were clarified.

Free Research Field

社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

現代日本では全国的に人口減少・少子高齢化と経済停滞が続き、これまで主流だった被災前の人口構造や経済状況に戻すという復興目標を立てても、達成するのは難しい。地域特性と被害状況を考慮した新たな目標を案出する必要がある。本研究ではこの社会的要請に応える。新たな復興目標を設定するには、被災者を主体とする意思決定が必要である。国内の災害社会学では、被災者と社会全体、両レベルでの変化が収れんしていく過程を復興とし主体性を論じてきたが、両レベルには分析上乖離があった。本研究はその乖離を埋める分析の視点を提示した。また、国際的な災害研究で重要とされる「復元＝回復力」概念の再検討と精緻化も行った。