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Resilience: new book contributes to fast-changing debate

Professor Katrina Brown’s latest book, which has just been published, is particularly timely.  ‘Resilience, Development and Global Change’ presents new perspectives on resilience to help us re-think orthodox approaches to environmental change and international development.

Resilience is a concept to explain and understand responses to change or perturbations in complex, inter-connected social, ecological and economic systems. Whilst resilience has great traction in policy debates and public discourses about a wide range of subjects, from economics and national security to personal development and well-being, it is also multi-faceted and often contested. So although it is widely promoted by policy, resilience is used in different fields in widely differing ways.

Professor Brown’s book provides an overview and analysis of these different applications and argues for pluralist approaches. It proposes how resilience approaches can inform contemporary international development challenges such as climate change, globalisation, rural and urban poverty and inequality. In particular, it highlights previously neglected areas of resistance, rootedness and resourcefulness. As such, the book is likely to be of interest to those studying, and working in, international development, environmental studies, ecology and geography. Its use of case studies is also likely to broaden its appeal to anyone interested in how sustainable development goals can be more effectively attained.

Professor Brown says: “I present a re-visioning of resilience which brings a truly transdisciplinary perspective. I believe this can inform policy and action and us help understand how people can respond to change – such as climate change – and develop capacities to adapt and to shape the future in positive ways.”

‘Resilience, Development and Global Change’, by Katrina Brown, ISBN 9780415663472, Routledge, published November 2015.

Date: 20 November 2015