Community resilience: path dependency, lock-in effects and transitional ruptures

Abstract

Adopting a framework based on ‘social resilience', this paper analyses path dependency in community resilience, with a specific emphasis on endogenous pathways of change. Path dependencies are shaped by ‘lock-in’ effects which shoehorn communities into positive or negative pathways of change. Of particular importance are ‘structural lock-in effects’, ‘economic lock-in effects’ and ‘socio-psychological lock-ins’ which make certain community pathways impossible to implement, and can be severe hindrances for raising community resilience. Community transitions are usually not linear, but can be characterised by ‘transitional ruptures’ where the quality of resilience is abruptly changed (positively or negatively).