Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting

Conference Report on the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting

Himalayan Trauma: Administrative Thrombosis and Citizens’ Response

In this paper, the author uses excerpts from social media postings and traditional media to highlight how various citizen and volunteer responses to the 2015 earthquake helped fill in the gaps created by institutional dysfunction. Further, he shows how these two types of media played a critical role in facilitating communication between grassroots aid initiatives and earthquake affected people and their families and friends, not only in Kathmandu but also in neglected mountainous areas as well. The author uses a personal, reflexive approach to help situate the distinct experiences of earthquake affected people including trauma patients, people with disabilities, and volunteer aid workers