Hurricane Katrina: exploring justice and fairness as a sociology of common good(s)

Disasters or crises present opportunities to challenge society\u27s taken-for-granted assumptions about the order of things. This paper applies the sociology of worth (SOW), as detailed by Boltanski & Thévenot, ([1991] 2006), to conceptualize the \u27common good\u27 in complex social situations or disputes, in this case a disaster. We use SOW to construct a narrative of Hurricane Katrina according to a nuanced understanding of disruptions to the social order. Previous accounting studies of disasters have demonstrated how accounts play a pivotal role in defining questions of justice and accountability - to whom and for what? SOW provides a framework to accommodate multiple rationalities and experiences in relation to a particular \u27situation\u27. We argue that the common good, evaluated through logic and reasoning within a \u27situation\u27 or social reality, is multiple. This study contributes to our understanding of and making visible the contentions, compromises and conflicts that arise from a disaster and mobilize neglected or hidden accounts of what it means to achieve the common good