ABSTRACT
Phrases like ‘responsibility of self’ or ‘responsibility of the collective’ have become popular in civil society and disaster resilience conceptualisation. It reflects the shift in responsibility to individuals in the context of increasing uncertainty and risk. Leadership plays a crucial role in this transformation of individuals to responsible citizens. Taking into consideration the critique of this shift in responsibility, we review the synergies and points of contention between the concepts of disaster resilience, civil society, and leadership in the exploration of disaster resilience leadership in the Indian context. The practical, theoretical, and historical review of civil society affirms the significance of grassroots-level leadership for disaster resilience by highlighting the paucity of civil society initiatives during disasters, their technological inclination, the issues of representation, the communitarian lineages, the changing nature of civil society–state relationship, the constriction of civic space, and the emergence of new hybrid forms of social entrepreneurs. We also focus on the plight of the marginalised sections that are often cast out of both state and civil society initiatives and draw from the theoretical perspective of self-organisation within and outside of the state to explore the assertions of the marginalised groups for representation, claims-making, and provision of civic infrastructure in the disaster context.
