1. Examining the Conceptual Territories
Anne Edwards
Department of Education
University of Oxford

2. A Useful Concept
Is a lens which allow us to move beyond simple concrete description
Is part of a broader conceptual system – i.e. allows us to say that the phenomenon is this but not that
Arises from a coherent way of looking at the world
Does a job that cannot be done by existing concepts

3. Is resilience a useful concept?
The psychological, within-person strength-building view – very useful for policy makers as they can set up interventions to build resilience
The sociological, create the enabling environment view – used by e.g. disability campaigners
The cultural-historical, we shape our worlds as well as being shaped by them view – not widely used but can underpin more democratic, participatory notions of strengthening both person and environment

4. But is the CH view different from agency?
It is close to agency as it involves purposeful action on the world in order to change it, to which the world responds
But it is a concept to be used when people are acting within potentially disabling practices i.e. they are potentially vulnerable to a downward spiral
The focus of action is to change the potentially disabling features of the practice so that one may be repositioned within the practice and be on an upward spiral

5. THE cultural historical reading
Resilience is not a within person quality – ‘she is very resilient’- i.e. the simple psychological view doesn’t work because of the interaction over time between person and environment that is core to resilience
The sociological view leads to notions of enabling environments, affordances etc. – which are only one element in the dynamic

6. Capturing the dynamic over time
The spiral of resilience – the Children’s Fund, prevention through participation
In research: being alert to small changes in relationship between person and world
In practice: calling for attention to how practitioners/managers etc. respond to the potentially vulnerable actor