Problematising Definition of Social Resilience: A Scoping Review of Popular Definitions.
(2022) International Conference on Business, Management and Social Sciences p.55-55- Abstract
- Social resilience is relatively new rarely explored concept. In 21st century, it is becoming significant in sustainability studies in the context of social wellbeing and its impact on quality of life. The concept of social resilience is frequently associated with
predominant conceptualisation of resilience in Psychology. However, it goes beyond the narrow definition of resilience by assessing individual’s traits and psychological fitness to ‘calculate’ social resilience. Cultural adherence, informal social
networking, local knowledge and belief practices, the social value of relationships and community members, and interdependence, all contribute to a complex and cohesive whole of social resilience. The primary objective of this... (More) - Social resilience is relatively new rarely explored concept. In 21st century, it is becoming significant in sustainability studies in the context of social wellbeing and its impact on quality of life. The concept of social resilience is frequently associated with
predominant conceptualisation of resilience in Psychology. However, it goes beyond the narrow definition of resilience by assessing individual’s traits and psychological fitness to ‘calculate’ social resilience. Cultural adherence, informal social
networking, local knowledge and belief practices, the social value of relationships and community members, and interdependence, all contribute to a complex and cohesive whole of social resilience. The primary objective of this scoping review
of popular definitions of social resilience is to problematize the concept to highlight its process-oriented interdisciplinary characteristics that are rarely addressed in definitions. Academic literature was searched using electronic academic databases
(Scopus) for articles published in English between since 2000. The relevant literature was searched using the keywords ’Resilience, Community Resilience, Social Resilience’. The articles that include ‘Social Resilience’ in their titles were included and screened for the definition of social resilience. A search (using given keywords) produced 1473 article. However, only 401 (after excluding duplicates) articles include the word ‘Social Resilience’ in their titles. 273 articles provided a definition of social resilience in their texts. Removing duplicate definitions, I could find 68 definitions of social resilience that were ‘anyhow’ similar in several ways. I did a content analysis of these definitions to see how the social resilience is portrayed in defining the concept. Almost all the definitions describe social resilience as ability or capacity referring to withstand, recover and maintain. I placed the words used to describe the ability or capacity in four interconnected categories, i.e. adaptation, adjustment, continuity, recovery. These four categories lead to flexibility and stability that is translated into the capacity or ability of social resilience. A description of social resilience with reference to these definitions leads to the understanding of social resilience into a ‘measurable’ construct that can be generalised on the basis of the individual characteristics. That is how the notion of ‘ability’ or ‘capacity’ limits the scope of social resilience to be conceptualised and investigated as a phenomenon that is an interdisciplinary
construct expanding its scope to community dynamics, flexibility and several other environmental factors (such as political, social, cultural, economic and ecological). The experience of a person or a social group to sustain is ingrained in how the resilience is
socially and culturally shaped, internalised and translated into adaptation and transformation. This makes the concept of social resilience an interdisciplinary construct expanding its scope to community dynamics and flexibility. A decontextualisation of the concept ‘social resilience’ and an attempt to the universalisation of the resilience theories dominated by top-down psychological
approaches may undermine the broader socio-cultural context, indigenous understanding, and wider/deeper scope of resilience studies. Hence, rethinking resilience with a ground-up interdisciplinary approach is required. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2f791bed-1764-4705-bcd4-625fd9dbc885
- author
- Qamar, Azher Hameed LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-02-10
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- wellbeing, Resilience, Crisis, integration, Sustainability challenges, social resilience
- pages
- 55 pages
- conference name
- International Conference on Business, Management and Social Sciences
- conference location
- Islamabad, Pakistan
- conference dates
- 2022-02-08 - 2022-02-10
- project
- Social Resilience: Lived Experiences of Young Adult Migrants in Sweden
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2f791bed-1764-4705-bcd4-625fd9dbc885
- alternative location
- https://icbmass.nust.edu.pk/e-book/
- date added to LUP
- 2022-03-03 10:21:17
- date last changed
- 2022-03-03 10:31:58
@misc{2f791bed-1764-4705-bcd4-625fd9dbc885,
abstract = {{Social resilience is relatively new rarely explored concept. In 21st century, it is becoming significant in sustainability studies in the context of social wellbeing and its impact on quality of life. The concept of social resilience is frequently associated with<br/>predominant conceptualisation of resilience in Psychology. However, it goes beyond the narrow definition of resilience by assessing individual’s traits and psychological fitness to ‘calculate’ social resilience. Cultural adherence, informal social<br/>networking, local knowledge and belief practices, the social value of relationships and community members, and interdependence, all contribute to a complex and cohesive whole of social resilience. The primary objective of this scoping review<br/>of popular definitions of social resilience is to problematize the concept to highlight its process-oriented interdisciplinary characteristics that are rarely addressed in definitions. Academic literature was searched using electronic academic databases<br/>(Scopus) for articles published in English between since 2000. The relevant literature was searched using the keywords ’Resilience, Community Resilience, Social Resilience’. The articles that include ‘Social Resilience’ in their titles were included and screened for the definition of social resilience. A search (using given keywords) produced 1473 article. However, only 401 (after excluding duplicates) articles include the word ‘Social Resilience’ in their titles. 273 articles provided a definition of social resilience in their texts. Removing duplicate definitions, I could find 68 definitions of social resilience that were ‘anyhow’ similar in several ways. I did a content analysis of these definitions to see how the social resilience is portrayed in defining the concept. Almost all the definitions describe social resilience as ability or capacity referring to withstand, recover and maintain. I placed the words used to describe the ability or capacity in four interconnected categories, i.e. adaptation, adjustment, continuity, recovery. These four categories lead to flexibility and stability that is translated into the capacity or ability of social resilience. A description of social resilience with reference to these definitions leads to the understanding of social resilience into a ‘measurable’ construct that can be generalised on the basis of the individual characteristics. That is how the notion of ‘ability’ or ‘capacity’ limits the scope of social resilience to be conceptualised and investigated as a phenomenon that is an interdisciplinary<br/>construct expanding its scope to community dynamics, flexibility and several other environmental factors (such as political, social, cultural, economic and ecological). The experience of a person or a social group to sustain is ingrained in how the resilience is<br/>socially and culturally shaped, internalised and translated into adaptation and transformation. This makes the concept of social resilience an interdisciplinary construct expanding its scope to community dynamics and flexibility. A decontextualisation of the concept ‘social resilience’ and an attempt to the universalisation of the resilience theories dominated by top-down psychological<br/>approaches may undermine the broader socio-cultural context, indigenous understanding, and wider/deeper scope of resilience studies. Hence, rethinking resilience with a ground-up interdisciplinary approach is required.}},
author = {{Qamar, Azher Hameed}},
keywords = {{wellbeing; Resilience; Crisis; integration; Sustainability challenges; social resilience}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{02}},
pages = {{55--55}},
title = {{Problematising Definition of Social Resilience: A Scoping Review of Popular Definitions.}},
url = {{https://icbmass.nust.edu.pk/e-book/}},
year = {{2022}},
}