ABSTRACT

Resilience is a notoriously slippery concept to pin down. It shifts meaning, function, and efficacy as it flows from one context to the next. Sociologist and disaster studies specialist Kathleen Tierney identified over forty distinct uses of the term in academic and professional literature. Resilience guides emergency planning in the US Department of Homeland Security – whether this involves technical fields of critical infrastructure protection or the capacity-building "Whole Community" strategy. Resilience focuses on identifying and improving conditions that enable systemic adaptations following disturbances, whether adaptation is a matter of 'bouncing back' to a previous state or 'bouncing forward' to a new and potentially improved configuration. Resilience introduces a distinct style of thought that subtly transforms the meaning, significance and value of both critical and applied research. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.