Initiative for social resilience research
An ongoing initiative at the Faculty of Social Sciences encourages research on social resilience. On this page you can find information about the initiative and all the current activities within it.
With this initiative the faculty wants to:
- get acquainted with already existing social sciences research on resilience at Lund University
- create a forum for the exchange of ideas as well as for theoretical and methodological advancement
- encourage future trans- and interdisciplinary research and joint applications.
Ongoing social resilience research
Projects funded by the faculty's research grants on social resilience themes
In late 2021, the faculty announced research grants on the broad theme of social resilience. Four researchers have been granted research funding for projects starting in spring 2022. Find out more by visiting the researcher's profiles in the University Research Portal:
- Yunhwan Kim, Department of Psychology
Project: Social Resilience, mental health and civic/political engagement among adolescents. - Anette Hill, Media and Communications Studies
Helle Rydström, Department of Gender Studies
Project: Social Resilience, Family Relations, and Social Media during the Corona Crisis in Vietnam - Martina Angela Caretta, Department of Human Geography
Project: Indigenous Knowledge - enhanced social resilience. An exploration of climate change adaptation to water insecurity
Doctoral projects within the Agenda 2030 Graduate School
Since the beginning of this year, the faculty is funding two doctoral positions in social resilience within Lund University’s sustainability initative Agenda 2030 Graduate School.
- Juan Antonio Samper at LUCSUS:
the research will involve analyzing both the discursive and material elements associated to the concept of defending the territory in the Putumayo (Colombia), and its relationship to peace, development, conservation, and social resilience. - Carlo Nicoli Aldini at the Sociology of Law Department:
the research will investigate how individuals and social groups living in the southern Italian city of Taranto have relied upon laws and informal norms to adjust and, possibly, transform their lives in the face of the environmental disaster caused by the local steel industry.
Post doc projects
Since 2021, six new post doc projects have started. Find out more by visiting the researcher's profiles in the Research Portal:
- Sara Kauko at the Department of Gender
Project: Women’s entrepreneurialism, crisis, and resilience processes in Argentina - Patric Nordbeck at the Department of Psychology
Project: Resilience in dynamic system processes - Azher Hameed Qamar at the School of Social Work
Social resilience and migration in the context of challenges and changes that shape immigrants lives in the host country - Hui Zhao, Department of Strategic Communication
Project: Disparities and Social Resilience of Ethnic Communities in Times of Public Health Crisis: A big-data approach - Mikael Linnell, Department of Sociology
Project: ”Preparing for degrowth – social resilience, transformation and self-limitation”. - Martin Lundqvist, Department of Communication and Media.
Project: Meme-ing’ social resilience in Northern Ireland: exploring the everyday politics of internet memes about Belfast riots.
Other research within the field
- International cooperation with the University of Hamburg:
Interresilience - uni.hamburg.de - Research theme at LUCSUS:
Climate Change and Resilience - lucsus.lu.se - Research projects at the Department of Strategic Communication:
Resilient destination development in the wake of Covid-19 - Research Portal
Rethinking urban tourism development: Dealing with sustainability in the age of over-tourism - Research Portal
Social resilience webinars 2021-2022
During fall 2021 and spring 2022 a series of webinars were arranged in collaboration with the Society for Critical Studies of Crisis (SCSC). To get access to materials and recordings from these sessions, please send an e-mail to teres [dot] hjarpe [at] soch [dot] lu [dot] se.
15 December 2022: Law, Crisis, Social Resilience
27 October 2022: Conflict, Crisis, Social Resilience
19 May 2022: Communication, crisis, social resilience
28 April 2022: Work, crisis, social resilience
24 March 2022: Gender, crisis, social resilience
27 January 2022: Social resilience beyond the west
10 March 2022: Climate, crisis, social resilience
27 January 2022: Social resiience beyond the west
9 December 2021: Dynamic and systems perspectives on resilience in context
4 November 2021: Social resilience and migration
30 September 2021: Social resilience, neoliberalism, and socioeconomic crises
Contact
Helle Rydström
+46 46 222 09 52
helle [dot] rydstrom [at] genus [dot] lu [dot] se (helle[dot]rydstrom[at]genus[dot]lu[dot]se)
Soumi Banerjee
soumi [dot] banerjee [at] soch [dot] lu [dot] se (soumi[dot]banerjee[at]soch[dot]lu[dot]se)
What is social resilience?
Social resilience can be broadly understood as the “ability of groups or communities to cope with external stresses and disturbances as a result of social, political and environmental change (Adger 2000)”, and is one angle from which we can advance research on social sustainability.
While debated as a concept, social resilience has gained increased attention in a diversity of social science disciplines, ranging from sustainability-, environmental-, development and migration studies to sociology, anthropology, social work and psychology. The common interest is in the capacities of societies, communities, networks, families and other groups to cope, resist, develop, or even thrive under stress, crisis and change.
A particular purpose of this initiative is to explore possibilities for inter- and transdisciplinary research.