A recent paper in Ecology and Society examines the interplay of social wellbeing and resilience in applying a social-ecological perspective. In resilience thinking, the ecological dimensions have been more influential and better theorized than the social ones. But researchers are increasingly pointing to the importance of power, the role of human agency, the manner in which different actors construct and frame tradeoffs associated with ecosystem services and livelihood needs, and the challenge of articulating desirable pathways of change given the influence of complex relational networks. Progress has been made on these themes but key challenges must be addressed to unpack the social dimensions of resilience in the context of specific places and problems, and to move towards interdisciplinary understanding of social-ecological systems.
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Armitage, D., C. Béné, A. T. Charles, D. Johnson, and E. H. Allison. 2012. The interplay of well-being and resilience in applying a social-ecological perspective. Ecology and Society 17(4): 15.