Melissa Haeffner

Dr. Melissa Haeffner, Assistant Professor

Department of Environmental Science & Management, Portland State University

"Politicizing drought: Social resilience for transforming communities”

Social resilience is an actor-centered approach to study the practice and capacity of humans to respond and learn from crisis. Critics of the application of the term "resilience" to societal relations argue that the framing of resilience as persistence or adaptation depoliticizes social crisis. Instead, they argue, we must recognize the social structures that cause and reinforce human exposure to risk. Who defines what is a threat (or not) and who has the capacity to participate in decision making (or not) are not equally distributed. Rather, they are social endeavors based on structural and institutional power relations. In this talk, I will address the current state of use of the term social resilience as it is argued in social science literature. I will draw on case studies from my field research to ask where does power lie in the ability of individuals, households, and communities to withstand stressors and shock. I will focus the bulk of my talk on one case study of a federally declared drought in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Using household survey and qualitative interview data, I will show how drought response is entrenched in social structures that are protected by powerful interests. I argue that calls for social resilience in this area are poised to benefit urban communities at the expense of rural communities while reinforcing the status quo of imagining rural water users as welfare recipients (as opposed to partners in sustainable water conservation). In addition, I will argue that fluctuations in federal drought aid over time act can as disturbances to the household and community when political interests disburse or withhold aid for personal gain. Finally, I will conclude with steps toward thinking about social resilience as an opportunity to address the social inequities that are often exposed in crisis and ways forward in facilitating transformation.