Session: At the Intersection of Climate, Disasters, and Democracy: The Role of Social Work Research (Society for Social Work and Research 31st Annual Conference)

This symposium brings together five studies that examine how disaster assistance systems, social vulnerability, and recovery processes operate in the United States and what implications the findings have for social work. The session advances a more holistic understanding of disaster-related inequities and opportunities for social work intervention by exploring the political economy and governance of disaster assistance, as well as the voices of community and disaster practitioners across various geographic and disaster contexts using diverse and rigorous methods.

The session begins by highlighting the structure of U.S. disaster assistance (i.e., the “ecowelfare state"), which the first study argues is bifurcated between public disaster assistance and private, often corporate, disaster philanthropy. Through comparative, multi-disaster bipartite network analysis, this study demonstrates that corporate disaster philanthropy functions less as a universalistic safety net and more as a stratified, elite-led system of provision.

After this overarching structural view of the ecowelfare state, the session will then further dive into a series of studies exploring varying disasters and contexts, exploring their relevance for social workers. The next study, using policy and secondary analysis, examines how structural and geographic disparities shape disaster risk for individuals with disabilities and identifies policy pathways forward. The following study then elevates the voices of disaster survivors through the findings from a qualitative study of the 2023 Maui wildfires, underscoring how impersonal and rigid governmental aid processes disconnected from cultural context led to frustration, and highlights the participants' concerns about the precarious nature of recovering their community given the rising cost of living. A mixed-methods study that used geospatial analysis, survey data, and workshops with public health and emergency response professionals then explores the inland impacts of Hurricane Helene in Southern Appalachia, highlighting the vulnerabilities of rural and mountainous communities, linking spatial exposure patterns to physical and mental health outcomes, and identifying gaps in coordination, infrastructure, and long-term recovery capacity. The final study then grounds the conversation in broader debates about disaster assistance reform. Using a cross-sectional survey, it explores challenges and opportunities that might arise with the decentralization of disaster assistance, identifies components needed for effective disaster assistance programs, and emphasizes social workers' advocacy role in these contexts.

Together, these studies demonstrate that disaster impacts and recovery are not solely functions of hazard exposure but are fundamentally shaped by systems of governance, policy design, and social inequality. This symposium advances social work’s role in disaster and climate research by integrating structural, policy, and community perspectives to inform equity-centered, culturally responsive, and community-accountable approaches to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.