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 related activities.
Critical studies of social resilience
Social resilience can be seen as the ways in which people manage to mitigate and cope with challenges inflicted upon their lifeworlds, livelihoods, communities, and societies amidst a range of crises.
Research on 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.
Under the social resilience initiative, inter- and transdisciplinary research is conducted to study the capacities of societies, communities, networks, families, and other social groups to critically explore locally and globally the theoretical dimensions of a social resilience perspective, its methodological implications, empirical possibilities, and practical applications as well as the politics with which social resilience might be imbued.
About the social resilience initiative
The Faculty of Social Sciences has taken initiative to support and encourage research on social resilience. With this initiative the faculty wants to:
- connect social science research on resilience conducted at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Lund University as well as nationally and internationally.
- Create a stimulating forum that allow for the development of theoretical, empirical, and methodological dimensions of social resilience research.
- encourage trans- and interdisciplinary research for future joint applications, publications, and collaborations.
Ongoing social resilience research
Three areas have been selected and granted faculty funding to consolidate, develop, and give visibility to strong interdisciplinary research areas at the faculty and beyond. One of the areas is:
Crisis inequalities and social resilience (CISR) - Research Portal
When the faculty in 2021 announced research grants on the broad theme of social resilience, four researchers were granted funding for projects. More information can be found under the researchers’ profile 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
The faculty is funding doctoral positions in social resilience within Lund University’s sustainability initiative, 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.
The social resilience initiative is funding six post-doctoral projects. More information can be found under the researchers’ profile in the University Research Portal.
The first group of post-doctoral projects
- 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
The second group of post-doctoral projects
- 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.
- 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
Current activities
Tuesday meetings: Crisis Inequalities and Social Resilience (CISR) Network.
Meetings are held every second Tuesday during the spring of 2024. In these meetings, we identify innovative and critical approaches to social resilience as intersected with crisis inequalities. Everybody is welcome! The next meeting will be held on January 23, 15.15-16.45.
For details contact Soumi Banerjee at: soumi [dot] banerjee [at] soch [dot] lu [dot] se
Inter-resilience symposium
Interdisciplinary Resilience Mechanisms in Crisis: Nov 16, 2023 as well as an upcoming symposium in Hamburg, Germany, in June 2024. Collaboration funded by the ‘Lund-Hamburg Grant’, which includes scholars from the social sciences, law, psychology, and philosophy at the University of Hamburg and Lund University.
Thematic workshop: Crisis Inequalities and Social Resilience
28-29 May 2024
The aim of the workshop is to critically examine conceptualisations of crisis (including ‘polycrisis’) and social resilience and how they may entangle in various social worlds.
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)