Resilience: moving from a 'heroic' notion to a sociological concept

This paper presents a specific sociological theoretical framework to the concept of resilience. To do so, we reviewed the main theoretical developments on resilience, focusing our attention on the development of a “heroic” perspective of resilience. We point out its several pitfalls, and counter it...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Estêvão, P. (author)
Other Authors: Calado, A. (author), Capucha, Luís (author)
Format: article
Language:eng
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10071/14878
Country:Portugal
Oai:oai:repositorio.iscte-iul.pt:10071/14878
Description
Summary:This paper presents a specific sociological theoretical framework to the concept of resilience. To do so, we reviewed the main theoretical developments on resilience, focusing our attention on the development of a “heroic” perspective of resilience. We point out its several pitfalls, and counter it with a concept of resilience grounded on sociological theory and poverty studies, presenting a definition for resilience, the conditions and characteristics of this social phenomenon, as well as a model of operationalization based on two major dimensions: mobilization of resources and shifting of risks. With this innovative approach we also call for a sociological research agenda for resilience.