Waiting during disasters: Negotiating the spatio‐temporalities of resilience and recovery

Always spatial, waiting time is the observation of past-present-future, and temporality condition being bounded by time. Both are mechanisms state governance that control how when families recover from rapid-onset humanitarian disasters. Analysing these spatio-temporalities reveals leverage resources to engage in acts resilience challenge state’s spatio-temporal recovery. A case study focuses on aftermath Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico 2017. We draw qualitative longitudinal research explore politicised experiences for fix public infrastructures; approve financial support; provide access affordable consumables—which all shape families’ recovery rates pathways. Disaster-affected do not passively wait often their incomes social networks resilience-based strategies ease everyday lives enable while state. Waiting feels more arduous with fewer there uncertainty about begin certain activities. disasters can also space collective socio-political practices such as community gardening emerge neighbourhoods. For researchers disasters, this article highlights dimensions grassroots ways power citizen agency interact subvert heterogeneous ways. Research during has great potential inform reform