ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the processes of post-disaster mobilisation, from the emergence and development of the large post-Mitch platforms, to the more permanent Mesas para la Gestion del Riesgo that emerged from these platforms and are still active. It builds on, and links to, an important tradition in disaster studies, connecting disasters to social mobilisation and political unrest. The chapter aims to capture the political significance of post-disaster civil society organisation, while showing some of the concrete achievements in the field of disaster risk management. It explains the methodological and theoretical approach. The chapter introduces the emergence of social mobilisation in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, explaining its relation to the disaster, as well as to earlier processes of social mobilisation. It explains the development of more permanent forms of collective action around disaster risk management. The chapter elaborates the changes social mobilisation sought to achieve in the field of legal and institutional change, as well as community mobilisation.
