Rebounding after disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods can be daunting. Communities must have residents who can not only gain access to the resources that they need to rebuild but who can also overcome the collective action problem that characterizes post-disaster relief efforts. Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster argues that entrepreneurs, conceived broadly as individuals who recognize and act on opportunities to promote social change, fill this critical role. Using examples of recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Hurricane Sandy on the Rockaway Peninsula in New York, the authors demonstrate how entrepreneurs promote community recovery by providing necessary goods and services, restoring and replacing disrupted social networks, and signaling that community rebound is likely and, in fact, underway. They argue that creating space for entrepreneurs to act after disasters is essential for promoting recovery and fostering resilient communities.

1. Introduction2. The Entrepreneur as a Driver of Social Change3. How Entrepreneurs Promote Post-Disaster Community Rebound4. How Entrepreneurship Promotes Community Recovery: The Cases of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy5. Goods and Services Providers6. Regrowing Uprooted Social Networks7. Entrepreneurs as Signals of Healthy Community Rebound8. Fostering Resilient Communities9. Conclusion