Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/283729 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2023/33
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper explores how the concept of resilience has been used in development studies. Set amidst the rise of resilience in sustainable development, it offers insights for scholars and policy-makers, alike. Sampling 419 resilience-oriented journal articles from 2017-22, it uses Kuhnian paradigms to analyse development knowledge production. This produces three key findings. First is the absence of a coherent resilience paradigm (with shared definitions, problems, and methods) in development studies. Second is its use, instead, by pre-existing paradigms as a theoretical add-on to better address complexity and/or as a new buzzword to repackage prior arguments. Third are latent possibilities for resilience as both a rallying call and siren song in sustainable development. Here, resilience discourses open vital space for development cooperation and climate action. However, its outcomes will depend on whether we can first understand precisely what we talk about when we talk about resilience.
Subjects: 
resilience
sustainable development
development policy
development studies
Kuhnian paradigms
politics of knowledge
JEL: 
I15
I18
O20
Q01
Q56
R11
R58
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9267-341-3
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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