A Comparison of Contexts

Hurricane Katrina and Kony are two vastly different social movements, partially because of how the events are categorized, but also because of the social response to the events. Hurricane Katrina reveals the impact a natural disaster can have on communities while the Kony campaign is an example of an international fight for humanitarian rights.

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 the use of social media was minimal. Rather than using Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. people relied on reporting and newspapers to receive information on the catastrophic natural disaster. It is evident when you compare the Hurricane Katrina documentary to the Kony documentary the differences in technology and social media. A major difference is that when the Kony campaign peaked in 2012, the awareness was spread primarily through Facebook.

Interestingly, Hurricane Katrina and Kony have similar social factors, economically and politically affecting the two events. New Orleans has been heavily affected by class and race over the past few decades, as those who were unable to afford to move out of the “bowl” were stuck in that high risk area. For Kony, the northern part of Uganda was structured to produce lower-class workers for the south and was an easy target due to the pre-existing power struggles.

In terms of politics, the US government has played an integral role in the reconstruction of New Orleans and the search for Joseph Kony. The US has funded much of the Katrina relief and levee construction to make New Orleans safer. In response to the Kony campaign, the US government launched an operation to find Kony. In both of these events, the US government worked to provide aid in a time of need.