Guest Editor's Introduction

Abstract

This introduction provides an analytical back ground for the notion of vulnerability as it is currently perceived mainly in social sciences, ethics, philosophy, queer studies and governmentality. Used both as descriptive and normative term, vulnerability, along with resilience and policy management, has acquired political dimensions, which are distant from those given by the philosophers Hannah Arendt and Emmanuel Levinas. In present day social and political discussions vulnerability has gained enormous popularity and seems to be a genuine 'sticky concept', an adhesive cluster of heterogeneous conceptual elements.
 
 Keywords: vulnerability, resilience, governmentality, intersectionality, racism, queer, vulnerable agency, sticky concept

“Going Forward like a Grandmother in the Snow”: Personal Survival Strategies, Motherhood, and Nature as Resources for Mothers Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence

“…Our research on survivors of IPV in the cultural context of Finland is in line with Honkasalo’s notion of wounded agency [ 26 ]. In the study presented herein, we were especially interested in learning about mothers’ resilience, their positive and encouraging capacities, and their challenges with survival while experiencing IPV.…”

“…Institutions and policies impact the possibilities for receiving help in cases of IPV [ 7 , 26 ]. Considering that reality, Finnish anthropologist Marja-Liisa Honkasalo [ 26 ] has questioned whether acting to counter vulnerability and ensure survival is the responsibility of the individual or society.…”

“…Institutions and policies impact the possibilities for receiving help in cases of IPV [ 7 , 26 ]. Considering that reality, Finnish anthropologist Marja-Liisa Honkasalo [ 26 ] has questioned whether acting to counter vulnerability and ensure survival is the responsibility of the individual or society. According to Honkasalo [ 26 ], categorising people, e.g., as vulnerable or at risk, creates a system in which individuals labelled as vulnerable may be considered helpless by society, where their personal agency and their ability to act in the world are not recognised.…”

“…Considering that reality, Finnish anthropologist Marja-Liisa Honkasalo [ 26 ] has questioned whether acting to counter vulnerability and ensure survival is the responsibility of the individual or society. According to Honkasalo [ 26 ], categorising people, e.g., as vulnerable or at risk, creates a system in which individuals labelled as vulnerable may be considered helpless by society, where their personal agency and their ability to act in the world are not recognised. For one reason or another, many women in need of help do not seek it out or face barriers in accessing services that could be helpful for them [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…When that is the case, people in need are likely to interpret their circumstances as being unavoidable, thus remaining passive in their difficult situations. Against that trend, the same systems could also support such vulnerable individuals in exercising personal agency and resilience [ 26 ].…”