Relationality: The Role of Connectedness in the Social Ecology of Resilience

Wing Shan Kan () and Raul P. Lejano
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Wing Shan Kan: Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong 999077, China
Raul P. Lejano: School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, 239 Greene Street, New York, NY 10003, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-7

Abstract: Previous work has focused on the role of social capital on resilience. However, this research tends to search for civic and other organizations, often formal institutionalized groups which, when they are not found, leads to questions about how social networks are possibly governed. Without formal organizational structures to govern these networks, how is pro-environmental/pro-social behavior sustained. In this article, we focus on a diffused mechanism for collective action, which is referred to as relationality. Relationality is a theory that underscores how social connectedness, through mechanisms of empathy, foster collective action in noncentralized modes of network governance. The concept of relationality addresses important issues not considered by the literature on social capital --so being, we will refer to relational elements as relational capital. Relational capital constitutes a type of asset that communities can activate vis-a-vis environmental and other perturbation. As we describe, the evidence for relationality as an important mechanism for sustainability and resilience is accumulating.

Keywords: resilience; social capital; relationality; sustainability; collective action (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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