Kernels of change: civil society challenges to state-led strategies for recovery and risk reduction in Turkey

Disaster recovery and risk reduction are most effective when the state can provide an enabling environment to support community action. Following the 1999 earthquakes in Turkey, there were many initiatives undertaken by civil society to fill the gaps left by government programmes that did not reach tenants who had lost their homes nor support livelihoods and social recovery of the people. Now, 11 years later, this paper looks at how these community-based recovery initiatives have transformed into initiatives around larger issues of building resilience and risk reduction. It examines the nature of their relationships with the state and with each other. The research is based on a cross-case analysis of three civil society organizations that were active in Düzce, one of the disaster-affected regions. It finds that while the community-based initiatives working in this area have built up the capacity of groups to demand change from the government, the lack of government support has meant that these groups have not been able to effectively act in partnership or cooperation with the government, which has impacted on their ability to scale up.