Social diversity and general resilience
- Variable relationship:
Diversity increases the chances that components of a SES with similar functions have different responses to disturbance so that underlying function is preserved. Carpenter et al (2012) argue that social diversity (Cultural Heterogeneity and Interest Heterogeneity) promotes problem solving (Actor Adaptive Capacity) which allows actors to adapt their behaviors to enhance resilience (Ecological Resilience) and maintain the existing system configuration (Basin Switch).
This theory is somewhat contradictory to collective action theory, which suggests that group homogeneity promotes cooperation.
- Project
- SESMAD
- Sector(s)
- Scientific Field
- Component Type(s)
- Status
- Public
Variables
| Variable | Role | Role Explanation | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cultural heterogeneity | Underlying independent variable | Social diversity, represented by the interaction between cultural and interest heterogeneity, can promote problem solving and innovation, and thereby contribute to actor adaptive capacity. | High |
| Interest heterogeneity | Underlying independent variable | Social diversity, represented by the interaction between cultural and interest heterogeneity can promote problem solving and innovation, and thereby contribute to actor adaptive capacity | High |
| Actor adaptive capacity | Proximate independent variable | Social diversity, represented by the interaction between cultural and interest heterogeneity can promote problem solving and innovation, thereby increasing resource users' and managers capacities to adapt, manage and maintain the ecological resilience of their system | High |
| Ecological resilience | Intermediate outcome | Higher levels of actor adaptive capacity increases the potential of resource users' and managers to respond to uncertainty and perturbation, and thereby to maintain or enhance the ecological resilience of the system. | Moderate to high resilience |
| Basin switch | Final outcome | Higher ecological resilience means the defined commons is better able to buffer, recover and adapt to disturbance events, thus remaining in a desirable stable state. | No Desirable |
Related Theories
| Theory | Relationship | Characterizing Variables |
|---|---|---|
| Interest heterogeneity and collective action | contradictory | |
| Cultural heterogeneity and collective action | contradictory | |
| Conditions for general resilience | nested |
Related Studies
| Study | Relationship |
|---|---|
Carpenter, Stephen R., et al., 2012. General Resilience to Cope with Extreme Events. Sustainability 4 (12): 3248-3259 | describe |