Resilience, Political Ecology, and Power: Convergences, Divergences, and the Potential for a Postanarchist Geographical Imagination

Abstract

Over the past three decades, resilience has emerged as an ecological concept that has transformed the way international development is conceptualized. However, it is only recently that the topic has been approached within the geography literature. In this article, I trace the linkages between resilience as an ecological concept and an emerging framework in political geography, its relationship to the field of political ecology, and the potential of a postanarchist geography in bridging the extant gap between these areas of study. To do this, I focus on the different conceptualizations of power prevalent in resilience scholarship and political ecology and offer a postanarchist conceptualization as a potential bridging point that can address the concerns of both of the fields.

Is Bangkok becoming more resilient to flooding? A framing analysis of Bangkok's flood resilience policy combining insights from both insiders and outsiders

“…This paper aimed to address this limitation and showed that Bangkok's flood resilience policy is framed to prioritize economic growth and competitiveness with little focus on wider societal outcomes, especially at the community level. This result is in line with the theoretical argument in resilience literature arguing that an uncritical adoption of the resilience concept could prioritize economic interests, which might leave vulnerable populations behind (Davoudi, 2012;Cannon & Müller-Mahn, 2010;White & O'Hare, 2014;Marks, 2015;Mullenite, 2016). In addition, our results showed that the dominant economic growth frame is currently being challenged by the outsiders, who were not involved in the development of the resilience policy.…”

“…The focus on structural flood protection, particularly in economic significant areas, could lead to resilience policy promoting economic growth and competitiveness of a city (White & O'Hare, 2014). A resilience strategy anticipating mainly economic development outcomes is therefore by some scholars seen as an exclusionary process for the dominant economic interest, which is consistent with the neoliberal agenda (Mullenite, 2016;Shaw, 2012aShaw, , 2012b. Although economic development is highly relevant, especially for developing countries, several authors have argued that structural flood protection for economically significant regions could in turn transfer flood risks to other, disadvantaged communities (Davoudi, 2012;Marks, 2015;Vale, 2014).…”

“…Third and finally, becoming a 'resilient city' is often used by policymakers as an aspired outcome, while the political nature of the resilience concept is often neglected (Vale, 2014;White & O'Hare, 2014). Several authors have therefore called for a greater emphasis on the political dimension of resilience outcomes, by arguing that a powerblind use of the concept may lead to exposing more risks among disadvantaged communities (Davoudi, 2012;Mullenite, 2016;Pizzo, 2015;Vale, 2014;White & O'Hare, 2014). However, these studies do not expand on the precise and actual negative and positive impacts from resilience policy.…”

“…In addition, Bangkok recently participated in the 100RC Programme and in 2017 formulated the 'Bangkok Resilience Strategy' to address a wide range of the city's problems (BMA, 2017). Drawing on insights from literature on resilience and urban flood resilience (Davoudi, 2012;Hegger et al, 2016;Lu & Stead, 2013;Restemeyer et al, 2015;Vale, 2014;White & O'Hare, 2014), and literature on urban political ecology (Cannon & Müller-Mahn, 2010;Keil, 2005;Mullenite, 2016;Swyngedouw & Heynen, 2003), we identified three main criticisms regarding resilience policy adoption, relating to the strategy, process and outcome of practical resilience-building efforts. Subsequently, we developed a conceptual framework that incorporates these three aspects to study flood resilience building in cities in developing countries.…”

The direction of ecological insurrections: political ecology comes to daggers with Fukuoka

“…All sensitive and relational developments are contingent on environments, and on the social bonds created. Insurrectionary political ecology complements resilience research conceived as resistance to domination (Mullenite 2016) that "generates new forms of life" (Wakefield 2017: 13), as opposed to normalizing the political economy of exploitation. Fukuoka and insurrectionary anarchism can provide pathways of resilience for considering how to politically and ecologically organize with minimal effort, maintain low-logistical overhead and remain evasive.…”