Rural Sociology Commons^™

Lowveld Practices In Mahenye, Zimbabwe: A Critical Analysis Of Resilience In A Marginalized Southern African Community, Scott Byington

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The concept of resilience has been developed by scholars in the social-ecological systems resilience and community resilience/disaster literature. While initially a descriptive model, the framework of resilience has since integrated both literatures and become a prescriptive tool for sustainable development initiatives. Political ecologists critically argue that the current conceptualization of resilience is problematic given resilience scholars’ lack of engagement with situational social complexities related to power and knowledge. They also argue that mainstream resilience literature is devoid of cultural, historical and political analysis. As such, individuals and communities at the margins of power may vulnerable to the application of resilience …