In an era of escalating disaster risks and increasingly complex governance challenges, social organizations have become indispensable actors in disaster response and recovery. This book provides the first systematic study of social organizations in disaster response and recovery, with a particular focus on China’s developing practices and their connections to global frameworks. It begins with an overview of the global risk landscape and the theoretical foundations of collaborative governance, network governance, and co-production. It then examines international networks including the UN Cluster System, the Sphere Project, ADRRN, U.S. VOAD, and Japan’s JVOAD, offering comparative insights into institutional embedding and multi-actor collaboration. The Chinese context is explored through detailed case studies from the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake—the “first year” of social organizations in disaster governance. The book also highlights Chinese social organizations’ overseas engagements in Nepal, Ecuador, Sulawesi, Türkiye–Syria, and Myanmar, underscoring both achievements and institutional constraints in cross-border action. By bridging theoretical analysis, case studies from China, and international experiences, the volume demonstrates the pathways of social organizations from ad hoc mobilization to institutionalized collaboration, offering critical insights for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in disaster risk reduction and resilience-building.

Qingyue Du is a researcher at the School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University, China. Her research focuses on risk communication, crisis communication, and disaster risk reduction. She holds a Ph.D. in Journalism from Sichuan University, where her dissertation examined the dissemination of information about the participation of social organizations in disaster relief.She has published several academic articles and has been engaged in volunteer efforts aimed at improving disaster information services and coordination.

Rajib Shaw is a professor in Graduate School of Media and Governance of Keio University, Japan. He is the co-founder of a Delhi (India) based social entrepreneur startup Resilience Innovation Knowledge Academy (RIKA), and RIKA Institute. He is the Co-chair of the United Nations Asia Pacific Science Technology Advisory Group (AP-STAG) and was CLA for IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report. Professor Shaw is the recipient of prestigious “Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA)” in 2021 for his contribution in education sector.  He also received United Nations Sasakawa Award in 2022 for his lifetime contributions in the field of disaster risk reduction.  He published 89 books and over 450 research papers.