Book “Fragility and resilience: the new frontiers of globalisation” (contribution)

Groupe URD has contributed to the collective book, “Fragilités et résilience : les nouvelles frontières de la mondialisation” (Fragility and resilience: the new frontiers of globalisation), coordinated by Jean-Marc Châtaigner and published by Editions Karthala. The book was presented at a conference-debate on 12 May in the presence of some of the contributing authors. It deals with the theme of fragility and resilience in the broadest sense, viewed from the point of view of different disciplines. It looks at the innovations that have been introduced by the resilience approach, which is renewing development aid by responding to the new fractures and fragilities in our societies in a context where there are increasing environmental, health, political and social crises. It also analyses the limits of the concept, which is sometimes considered to have abstract and “hotch-potch” theoretical foundations, and raises the question of how operational it is for different organizations, at different levels (households, businesses, human communities, cities, states, etc.), and in different operational sectors (agriculture and food security, environment, etc.). A number of country studies – Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Ocean, Colombia and Haiti – are also included, putting this analysis in perspective.