Alternative forms of resilience and the 2007 crisis in Europe

There is ample evidence across Europe but particularly in South European countries, on the variety of the practices undertaken by collective actors which aim to provide relief and civic empowerment in times of crisis. Despite their differences, they all devise alternative strategies to build community resilience and cope with economic hardship and therefore an integrated framework for their study is here adopted aiming to investigate current trends based on a distinction between reformative and autonomous action. Evidence is drawn on the findings of a qualitative investigation funded under the EC FP7 LIVEWHAT project.