Resilience was set to rest on 30 June 2016 in Trondheim, Norway. After a two-year quest for meaning, the concept now lies with its neoliberal supporters. Resilience and I first crossed paths at the beginning of my PhD journey in Geography. I was driven by curiosity and an eagerness to put resilience to use: after all, who doesn’t want to be resilient? As the months passed by, I discovered the many different meanings the concept was associated with. Indeed, resilience refused to be put in a box. Yet, the concept contained some questions that I set out to try to answer in the “real” world. However, curiosity soon developed into frustration – resilience revealed a rootlessness that was disturbing. Was it a means to measure? A means to conceptualize why some people make it and some do not? Or, was it in fact, just a means to get funding? Certainly, it was not a means to explain. Therefore, resilience will for me forever be remembered as an approach to enter and structure an interview guide, but now we must bid one another farewell. Your legacy will continue to live on in the neoliberal agenda.

Vitenskapelig publikasjon Konflikt mellom dannelse og kompetansemålLaereres bruk av skjønn i undervisning om kontroversielle temaer

In the wake of a disaster, narratives about the event will be constructed. The paper presents the dominant local narrative of a major fire in Laerdal, Norway in 2014. Based on semi-structured interviews with residents in Laerdal, I argue that the construction of the dominant local narrative was influenced by three factors. First, the strong eastern wind during the night of the fire was blamed for the development of the fire, rather than individuals or organizations. Accordingly, people emphasize why the outcome of the fire was not worse rather than how it could have been avoided or mitigated. Second, as local people responded in terms of their appointed roles and as residents, communications and relations between responsible officials and affected parties were perceived as close and personal, again seen as a major strength in the efforts to combat the fire. Third, local social dynamics and capacities were highly important for the management of the fire. Particularly local knowledge was highlighted as an essential factor, especially as electricity supplies and telecommunications broke down during the night of the fire. Analyzing local narratives in the wake of a disaster can contribute to an understanding of the local social dynamics and capacities that are put into practice during a disaster, which otherwise may be difficult to identify.

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