The Asian Tsunami and Post-Disaster Aid: Critical Perspectives Sunita Reddy The Asian Tsunami of 2004 drew worldwide attention due to the sheer scale of destruction: massive loss of lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure. It attracted unprecedented international attention, assistance, and aid. While there has been a lot written on the tsunami, mostly by natural scientists, engineers, disaster manage- ment, and policy specialists, yet a sustained body of scholarly work in the social sciences on long-term rehabilitation has not been developed. The existing per- spectives from different disciplines are understandably influenced by the enormous loss of property and material devastation and the efforts to manage and mitigate disasters. However, the fact remains that disasters are social phenomenons and there are acute socio-economic and political dimensions to the devastation, having long-term implications, especially on recovery. Such social disruptions call for a social science perspective—against a regional and political backdrop—to address a range of issues, including the primary issue of displacement that results from disaster and subsequent development. The tsunami in 2004 witnessed two major tidal waves, which ushered the massive destruction. However, the aid that followed was ‘the third wave’ (Silva 2009) and its sheer magnitude was hitherto unseen. Due to the sheer magnitude of the aid, it has also been referred to as the ‘second tsunami’. The enormous humanitarian response was due to various other reasons: the disaster ’s uniqueness; high mortality rate; foreign tourists affected; media coverage of the large-scale death and destruction. The overwhelming humanitarian response was also because of the wide geographical reach of the disaster, which affected 14 countries. While aid is necessary for long-term recovery from a major disaster, managing it appropriately and effectively is a challenge. Managing aid for relief, reconstruction, S. Reddy (&) Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health and Adjunct Faculty at the Special Centre for Disaster Research, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India e-mail: sunitareddyjnu@gmail.com © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 S. Reddy (ed.), The Asian Tsunami and Post-Disaster Aid, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0182-7_1 1