Why resilience is unappealing to social science: Theoretical and empirical investigations of the scientific use of resilience

Olsson, Lennart; Jerneck, Anne; Thorén, Henrik; Persson, Johannes; O'Byrne, David

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1400217

Cited by 562 publications

(436 citation statements)

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“…However, there are criticisms of the feasibility of such concepts when operationalizing them, due to possible constraints to capacities caused by poverty, weak institutions, or unproductive environments, among other examples (Jauhola 2015). There also have been sustained criticisms regarding the applicability of resilience in the social sciences more broadly due to its possible role in depoliticizing complex social-political causes of vulnerability (Olsson et al 2015).…”

Section: Towards a Causal Disaster Vulnerability Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, trying to measure resilience remains conceptually challenging (Olsson et al 2015). The most prevalent method is to use a baseline of pre-event function and then measure subsequent change to provide insight into how the disaster, as a discrete event, directly impacts, for example, health, infrastructure, and food systems along with social response mechanisms.…”

Section: Towards a Causal Disaster Vulnerability Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Framework for Disaster Vulnerability in a Small Island in the Southwest Pacific: A Case Study of Emae Island, Vanuatu

Jackson

McNamara

Witt

2017

Int J Disaster Risk Sci

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The societal costs of disasters around the world are continuing to increase and Pacific Island countries are considered some of the most vulnerable. This is primarily due to a combination of high hazard exposure coupled with a range of social, economic, physical, and political vulnerabilities. This article contributes to the growing body of work that aims to understand the causal factors of disaster vulnerability, but with a specific focus on small island developing states. The article first develops a framework for understanding disaster vulnerability, drawing on extensive literature and the well-established Methods for the Improvement of Vulnerability in Europe (MOVE) framework, and second, applies this adapted framework using empirically-derived data from fieldwork on Emae Island, Vanuatu to provide a working understanding of the causal elements of disaster vulnerability. Drawn from a significant body of scholarship at the time, the MOVE framework was primarily developed as a heuristic tool in which disaster vulnerability is considered to be a function of exposure, susceptibility (socially, economically, physically, culturally, environmentally, institutionally), and a lack of resilience. We posit that this adapted framework for small islands should also include historical susceptibility, and we prefer livelihood resilience (as capabilities, social capital, knowledge, participation, and human rights) over lack of resilience. We maintain that understanding disaster vulnerability holistically, which is inclusive of both strengths and drawbacks, is crucial to ensure that limited resources can target the causal factors that produce vulnerability and help safeguard and improve livelihoods in both the short and long term.

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Section: Towards a Causal Disaster Vulnerability Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Towards a Causal Disaster Vulnerability Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Framework for Disaster Vulnerability in a Small Island in the Southwest Pacific: A Case Study of Emae Island, Vanuatu

Jackson

McNamara

Witt

2017

Int J Disaster Risk Sci

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“…Some contributions to what we call the PE:SES debate take a positive view by arguing that there are synergies to be reaped by combining the two approaches (Armitage 2007), while others (usually of the PE persuasion) take a more critical stance that hones in on what are seen as flaws or shortfalls in the opposing approach (Nadasdy 2007;Olsson et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

We adapt … but is it good or bad? Locating the political ecology and social-ecological systems debate in reindeer herding in the Swedish Sub-Arctic

Gallardo

Saunders

Соколова

et al. 2017

Journal of Political Ecology

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Reindeer herding (RDH) is a livelihood strategy deeply connected to Sami cultural tradition. This article explores the implications of two theoretical and methodological approaches for grasping complex socioenvironmental relationships of RDH in Subarctic Sweden. Based on joint fieldwork, two teams -one that aligns itself with political ecology (PE) and the other with social-ecological systems (SES) -compared PE and SES approaches of understanding RDH. Our purpose was twofold: 1) to describe the situation of Sami RDH through the lenses of PE and SES, exploring how the two approaches interpret the same empirical data; 2) to present an analytical comparison of the ontological and epistemological assumptions of this work, also inferring different courses of action to instigate change for the sustainability of RDH. Key informants from four sameby in the Kiruna region expressed strong support for the continuation of RDH as a cultural and 1 Dr. Gloria L. Gallardo F., Centre for Sustainable Development, Uppsala University, Sweden. Email: gloria.gallardo "at" csduppsala.uu.se. Dr. Fred Saunders, School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, Södertörn University, Sweden. Tatiana Sokolova, Freelance researcher in socio-environmental studies. Kristina Börebäck, Department of Education, Stockholm University, Sweden. Dr. Frank van Laerhoven, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Netherlands. Suvi Kokko, Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden. Dr. Magnus Tuvendal, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden. Acknowledgements: We would like to first and foremost thank Sami community representatives (Table 1), for engaging with the research presented here in a generous, knowledgeable and forthright way. This also extends to those representatives from the Sami Parliament and other Sami organisations, who were also very generous with their time and knowledge. We acknowledge the Centre for Sustainable Development, Uppsala University for seeing the potential value of the research, as well as the Swedish Polar Secretary for the network support grant for our Polar network 'People, nature and sustainability network: environmental humanities, social and natural sciences perspectives on the development of the Arctic and Sub-Arctic region ' (2013-2014), and for facilitating the stay of the Sami community representatives at the Polar Forum November 2014 in Stockholm. There are also numerous individuals, most important among them is H. Beach, who carefully read, commented on and engaged in discussions of previous iterations of this article, as did M. Kuschler. We acknowledge L. Eunice who participated in the first field visit to Abisko. We are also grateful to C. Jansson, former Director of the Abisko Scientific Research Station, for supporting the empirical work. In addition, we thank I. Berit for her hospitality and an anononmous informant for the inspiration for the title. We would also like to acknowledge those who were sceptic...

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“…Interdisciplinary researchers that study adapting to climate change and reducing disaster risk promote the social-ecological resilience paradigm. They state that resilience is the outcome of successful adaptation, which is a product of governments, enterprises, civil society organisations, households, and individuals with strong adaptive capacity.(UN-Habitat, 2011a).According to Olsson et al (2015), the concept of resiliency has attracted criticism from some researchers. Owing to its malleability in science combined with its popularity among powerful private and public actors, there is a risk of (un)intentional scientific justification of particular policies, projects, and practices (Olsson et al, 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Blue Urban Agenda: Adapting to Climate Change in the Coastal Cities of Caribbean and Pacific Small Island Developing States

Mycoo¹,

Donovan²

2017

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a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC-IGO BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ igo/legalcode) and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any noncommercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed.Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC-IGO license.Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Inter-American Development Bank, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent. CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA PROVIDED BY THE INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK FELIPE HERRERA LIBRARY Mycoo, Michelle.A blue urban agenda: adapting to climate change in the coastal cities of Caribbean and Pacific small island developing states Michelle Mycoo, Michael G. Donovan. TAbLE Of CONTENTS 3.3Urban Profile of Caribbean and Pacific SIDS Photo 0,10,23,37,Chapter 2,7 Chapter 4, 5, photo 44,45,46,47,52 14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21. Guyana. June, 2010 Stabroeknews -www.Stabroeknews.com http://www.stabroeknews. com/2013/news/stories/04/29/high-tides-flood-parts-of-georgetown-westcoast. Author: Arian Browne Photo 24. Nassau, Bahamas. October, 2015 Source: IDB photogallery. Author: Willie Heinz Photos 25,27,28,29. Photos 30,31,32,33,34,43, Chapter 6. Bridgetown, Barbados Portfolio ESC. HUD Division. August 11, 2016 Regional Responses of Caribbean Agencies 13 LIST Of phOTOS Coastal cities of Caribbean and Pacific Small Island DevelopingStates (SIDS) are highly vulnerable and will be among the earliest and most affected by climate change in the coming decades. Approximately 29 million people reside in Caribbean and Pacific SIDS, 4.2 million of which reside in low-elevation coastal zones (LECZs) located less than 10 meters above the sea level. The cost of damage to critical infrastructure that supports human settlements along the coast that results from rising sea levels will be a financial burden to many SIDS. By 2100, the cost of rising sea levels as a percentage of GDP will be highest among SIDS and enormous relative to the size of their economies. Impacts could include a decline in national output, inflation, increasing debt, revenue loss, and employment decline. Adapting and improving the resilience of cities in coastal zones of SIDS, especially those experiencing rapid urbanisation, remains critical.The unique patterns of urban growth in SIDS increase their vulnerability to climate change. This model includes: SIDS can seize opportunities to minimise the impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as rising sea levels and natural hazards on their ur...

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Why resilience is unappealing to social science: Theoretical and empirical investigations of the scientific use of resilience

Abstract: Pluralism drawing on core social scientific concepts would facilitate integrated sustainability research.

Cited by 562 publications

References 89 publications

A Framework for Disaster Vulnerability in a Small Island in the Southwest Pacific: A Case Study of Emae Island, Vanuatu

A Framework for Disaster Vulnerability in a Small Island in the Southwest Pacific: A Case Study of Emae Island, Vanuatu

We adapt … but is it good or bad? Locating the political ecology and social-ecological systems debate in reindeer herding in the Swedish Sub-Arctic

A Blue Urban Agenda: Adapting to Climate Change in the Coastal Cities of Caribbean and Pacific Small Island Developing States

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