The power of resilience

What kind of strength does modern society need?

What kind of strength do we need to be able to respond to sudden shocks and chronic disruptions in today's modern society? Is there a strength stronger than violence? What do we need to restore life's development when life is interrupted by trauma, in a society where animosity is growing, in an eroding democracy, in the midst of a socio-ecological crisis? Alice Koubová explores these questions in interviews with leading world scientists through the concept of resilience. She shows that resilience is not just another item on a list of “skills” to be built individually and competed in, head-to-head with others, just so one is not a snowflake, an inferior piece, or a desolate soul. The power of resilience functions more like an ability to live in relationships that, while not ideal, are essential for thriving in life.

About the author:

Alice Koubová is a senior researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences and has been a long-term lecturer at AMU in Prague. She has collaborated with many international academic institutions (universities in Halifax, Uppsala, Lund, Freiburg, Giessen, Wuppertal, Helsinki, Zurich, Vienna, Collège de France, FMSH in Paris), where she has also lectured. She has also worked with cultural institutions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. She is the author and editor of several monographs, more than a hundred publications, and a co-creator of a series of participatory workshops and theatre performances.