The district of Sacsamarca, located in the province of Huanca Sancos in the region of Ayacucho in Peru, was one of the most affected districts by the Internal Armed Conflict during the eighties (CAI, in Spanish). Violence, as an exogenous variable, transformed the political, economic, and social land- scape within this community, and left tremendous losses that still have not been overcome. This paper analyzes the loss of agency among Sacsamarca’s inhabitants, within a framework of social resilience. For this purpose, we examine three crucial factors that were altered by the CAI: economic, politicaland demographic. / El distrito de Sacsamarca, ubicado en la provincia de Huanca Sancos, departamento de Ayacucho, fueuno de los lugares más afectados por el conflicto armado interno - CAI de la década de 1980 en el Perú. La violencia como variable exógena transformó los procesos políticos, económicos y sociales de este lugar y dejó grandes fracturas en la comunidad que no han podido ser superados en la actualidad. El presente trabajo analiza la pérdida de agencia de los habitantes sacsamarquinos, en un marco de resiliencia social a partir del CAI. Para ello, se examinarán tres factores que fueron alterados por el CAI: económicos, políticos y demográficos.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第15001号 / 工博第3175号 / 新制||工||1477(附属図書館) / 27451 / UT51-2009-R725 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科都市社会工学専攻 / (主査)教授 岡田 憲夫, 教授 小林 潔司, 教授 多々納 裕一 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

abstract: Small island developing states (SIDS) are on the very frontlines of climate change (UNDP, 2017). Increasing attention on the unique social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities SIDS face has led to the discussion of the overall resilience of this population. Specifically, post-disaster studies of resilience carried out on SIDS have pointed to social resilience and education as two primary indicators of the overall resilience of these vulnerable communities (Aldrich, 2012; Muttarak & Lutz, 2014); yet social aspects of resilience related to SIDS have been underexplored, in comparison to ecological and economic themes (Berkes & Ross, 2013). Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the personal and professional lived-natural disaster experiences of SIDS residents who are educators in order to understand their role in building social resilience within their community. In-depth interviews were conducted with educators employed at public and private schools in the United States Virgin Islands. The findings indicate that residents who are educators conceptualized resilience according to the following themes and sub-themes: (1) Social Process which involves Social Recovery and Community Alliances to ‘bounce back’ to an undefined level of normalcy and (2) Embodied Identity which was described in terms of Community Personifications of resilience as a trait in general citizens and educators. Participants identified internal and external resources as influential in how residents responded to natural disasters, by so doing, significantly contributing to positive post-disaster outcomes; these resources are referred to in the literature as protective factors (Rutter, 1985). The findings also demonstrate that educators had both a personal and professional responsibility to help their community contend with disasters, and this outcome is best explicated through the concept of protective factors. The research findings are significant because they: (1) contribute to the limited body of literature on social resilience in small island developing states, (2) demonstrate the importance of subjective perspectives in the development of disaster preparedness and management strategies for climate-vulnerable island populations, and (3) indicate a need for future research to use terminology which acknowledges the many ways in which disaster-prone communities have historically demonstrated and/or embodied resilience. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Community Resources and Development 2020

This thesis aims to analyze how low-income communities in Cali, Colombia, responded to the pressures and constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis of 2020 and 2021. The emergency measures that the Colombian government implemented to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, such as lockdowns and quarantines, as well as the increase on violence from state actors and illegal armed organizations during the summer of 2021, put unprecedented pressures and constraints upon low-income communities in Cali. For this reason, this thesis investigates how civil society groups in low-income communities in the Highlands and in the Agua Blanca District in Cali organized and mobilized during the pandemic crisis to respond to these challenges. This thesis uses ethnographic methods to explore how low-income communities in Cali engaged in processes of social mobilization during the pandemic crisis, giving special attention to the neighbourhoods of Polvorines, Pampas del Mirador, Alto Jordan, and Potrero Grande. This thesis also investigates particular forms of social organization that low-income communities in Cali employed during the pandemic crisis, such as community kitchens.

O presente trabalho de tese tem como objetivo identificar e compreender os principais fatores que estão subjacentes à formação das situações de vulnerabilidade e de resiliência social entre os agricultores familiares que residem na região do Alto Guaporé, no estado de Mato Grosso, diante das mudanças ambientais contemporâneas. Dentro do quadro teórico aqui desenvolvido, as reações ou os ajustamentos a esses processos, mobilizados e traduzidos pela noção de capacidade adaptativa ou de enfrentamento não são condicionadas a previsões ou respostas comportamentais futuras, mas determinadas pela capacidade que indivíduos ou grupos possuem em mobilizar ou transformar os mecanismos necessários que lhes permite contornar e/ou superar as barreiras que os expõem à uma situação de risco. Isso implica em reconhecer que as iniciativas que buscam garantir a subsistência familiar são o resultado objetivo da ação vinculada à experiência cotidiana na interação que ocorre entre os sistemas natural e social e pressupõe a existência de processos de aprendizagem individual e/ou coletiva. Com isso, a partir da identificação das principais estratégias de subsistência mobilizadas pelos agricultores familiares dessa região, foi possível apontar os principais fatores sociais e/ou naturais que constrangem ou mesmo facilitam a produção de respostas às mudanças ambientais contemporâneas. Como consequência, permitiu que se determinasse quais são os aspectos que caracterizam a vulnerabilidades e como se melhora tanto a capacidade de enfrentamento, quanto a adaptabilidade dos agricultores familiares no Alto Guaporé, num cenário de profunda incerteza e rápida transformação dos fatores que integram os sistemas natural e social. Assim, essa tese trata fundamentalmente da maneira como os agricultores que residem nessa região viabilizam melhores condições de vida e como fazem para garantir o processo de reprodução econômica e assim viabilizar a subsistência familiar. Para tanto, foram realizadas 65 entrevistas com agricultores em cinco diferentes municípios, mas em dois diferentes contextos: aquelas mobilizadas pelos agricultores que se localizam em áreas próximas aos centros urbanos, em distâncias não superiores aos 40 km e as que estão em locais mais distantes, entre 50 e 100 km dos perímetros urbanos. O estudo revelou que alguns aspectos do funcionamento do quadro institucional criam a possibilidade de mobilização de uma diversidade maior de arranjos e formas de produção pelos que integram o primeiro grupo, comparativamente aos que estão submetidos a distâncias maiores. Todavia, essa relação de proximidade não modifica qualitativamente a sua situação de vulnerabilidade e de resiliência. Foram identificadas evidências empíricas que demonstram que em razão da singularidade dos elementos do sistema natural e a experiência passada das famílias em um contexto socioeconômico, elas diferem substancialmente em termos de capacidade de acesso e habilidade de mobilização dos principais fatores que modelam essa competência e exerce uma influência que modifica os fatores que podem expô-los aos riscos e aos perigos que decorrem das transformações no ambiente em sua maneira de garantir a reprodução familiar. Dessa maneira, é possível afirmar que são as condições dos fatores sociais e institucionais que exercem a principal influência na geração de situações que podem implicar numa fragilidade ou mesmo numa incapacidade de enfrentar ou se adaptar às mudanças ambientais contemporâneas. / This thesis aims at identifying and understanding the main factors underlying the formation of the situations of vulnerability and social resilience among farmers living in the Alto Guaporé region in the state of Mato Grosso, in relation to the contemporary environmental changes. Within the theoretical framework developed here, reactions or adjustments to these processes, mobilized and translated by the notion of adaptive capacity and coping are not conditioned to forecasts or future behavioral responses, but are determined by the ability that individuals or groups have to mobilize or transform the necessary mechanisms that allow them to bypass and/or overcome the barriers that expose them to a risk situation. This implies recognizing that initiatives that seek to ensure family subsistence are the objective result of the action linked to the everyday experience in the interaction that occurs between the natural and social systems and requires the existence of individuals an/or collective processes. Thus, taking as our starting point the identification of the main subsistence strategies mobilized by the farmers of this region, it was possible to identify the main social and / or natural factors that constrain or even facilitate the production of answers to contemporary environmental changes. As a result, it was possible to determine the aspects that characterize the vulnerabilities as well as to improve the coping ability and the adaptability of farmers in Alto Guaporé, in a scenario of deep uncertainty and rapid transformation of the factors that integrate the natural and social systems. Thus, this thesis mainly deals with the construction of strategies mobilized by farmers living in this region to ensure family subsistence. For this purpose, 65 interviews with farmers were held in five different cities, but in two different contexts: that mobilized by farmers who are located in areas close to urban centers, within no greater distances than 40 km and that afield, between 50 and 100 km from urban perimeters. The study revealed that some aspects of the functioning of the institutional framework create the possibility of mobilizing a greater diversity of arrangements and forms of production by incorporating the first group, compared to those subjected to greater distances. However, this proximity relationship does not qualitatively change their situation of vulnerability and resilience. Empirical evidences were identified, which show that because of the uniqueness of the elements of the natural system and the past experience of families in a socioeconomic context, they differ substantially in terms of access capacity and mobilizing ability of the main factors that shape such competence and exerts an influence that modifies the factors that may expose them to the risks and dangers that arise from changes in the environment in their manner of ensuring social and material reproduction. Thus, it is possible to assert that the conditions of the social and institutional factors exert a major influence on the generation of situations that may involve a weakness or an inability to cope or adapt to contemporary environmental changes.

O presente trabalho de tese tem como objetivo identificar e compreender os principais fatores que estão subjacentes à formação das situações de vulnerabilidade e de resiliência social entre os agricultores familiares que residem na região do Alto Guaporé, no estado de Mato Grosso, diante das mudanças ambientais contemporâneas. Dentro do quadro teórico aqui desenvolvido, as reações ou os ajustamentos a esses processos, mobilizados e traduzidos pela noção de capacidade adaptativa ou de enfrentamento não são condicionadas a previsões ou respostas comportamentais futuras, mas determinadas pela capacidade que indivíduos ou grupos possuem em mobilizar ou transformar os mecanismos necessários que lhes permite contornar e/ou superar as barreiras que os expõem à uma situação de risco. Isso implica em reconhecer que as iniciativas que buscam garantir a subsistência familiar são o resultado objetivo da ação vinculada à experiência cotidiana na interação que ocorre entre os sistemas natural e social e pressupõe a existência de processos de aprendizagem individual e/ou coletiva. Com isso, a partir da identificação das principais estratégias de subsistência mobilizadas pelos agricultores familiares dessa região, foi possível apontar os principais fatores sociais e/ou naturais que constrangem ou mesmo facilitam a produção de respostas às mudanças ambientais contemporâneas. Como consequência, permitiu que se determinasse quais são os aspectos que caracterizam a vulnerabilidades e como se melhora tanto a capacidade de enfrentamento, quanto a adaptabilidade dos agricultores familiares no Alto Guaporé, num cenário de profunda incerteza e rápida transformação dos fatores que integram os sistemas natural e social. Assim, essa tese trata fundamentalmente da maneira como os agricultores que residem nessa região viabilizam melhores condições de vida e como fazem para garantir o processo de reprodução econômica e assim viabilizar a subsistência familiar. Para tanto, foram realizadas 65 entrevistas com agricultores em cinco diferentes municípios, mas em dois diferentes contextos: aquelas mobilizadas pelos agricultores que se localizam em áreas próximas aos centros urbanos, em distâncias não superiores aos 40 km e as que estão em locais mais distantes, entre 50 e 100 km dos perímetros urbanos. O estudo revelou que alguns aspectos do funcionamento do quadro institucional criam a possibilidade de mobilização de uma diversidade maior de arranjos e formas de produção pelos que integram o primeiro grupo, comparativamente aos que estão submetidos a distâncias maiores. Todavia, essa relação de proximidade não modifica qualitativamente a sua situação de vulnerabilidade e de resiliência. Foram identificadas evidências empíricas que demonstram que em razão da singularidade dos elementos do sistema natural e a experiência passada das famílias em um contexto socioeconômico, elas diferem substancialmente em termos de capacidade de acesso e habilidade de mobilização dos principais fatores que modelam essa competência e exerce uma influência que modifica os fatores que podem expô-los aos riscos e aos perigos que decorrem das transformações no ambiente em sua maneira de garantir a reprodução familiar. Dessa maneira, é possível afirmar que são as condições dos fatores sociais e institucionais que exercem a principal influência na geração de situações que podem implicar numa fragilidade ou mesmo numa incapacidade de enfrentar ou se adaptar às mudanças ambientais contemporâneas. / This thesis aims at identifying and understanding the main factors underlying the formation of the situations of vulnerability and social resilience among farmers living in the Alto Guaporé region in the state of Mato Grosso, in relation to the contemporary environmental changes. Within the theoretical framework developed here, reactions or adjustments to these processes, mobilized and translated by the notion of adaptive capacity and coping are not conditioned to forecasts or future behavioral responses, but are determined by the ability that individuals or groups have to mobilize or transform the necessary mechanisms that allow them to bypass and/or overcome the barriers that expose them to a risk situation. This implies recognizing that initiatives that seek to ensure family subsistence are the objective result of the action linked to the everyday experience in the interaction that occurs between the natural and social systems and requires the existence of individuals an/or collective processes. Thus, taking as our starting point the identification of the main subsistence strategies mobilized by the farmers of this region, it was possible to identify the main social and / or natural factors that constrain or even facilitate the production of answers to contemporary environmental changes. As a result, it was possible to determine the aspects that characterize the vulnerabilities as well as to improve the coping ability and the adaptability of farmers in Alto Guaporé, in a scenario of deep uncertainty and rapid transformation of the factors that integrate the natural and social systems. Thus, this thesis mainly deals with the construction of strategies mobilized by farmers living in this region to ensure family subsistence. For this purpose, 65 interviews with farmers were held in five different cities, but in two different contexts: that mobilized by farmers who are located in areas close to urban centers, within no greater distances than 40 km and that afield, between 50 and 100 km from urban perimeters. The study revealed that some aspects of the functioning of the institutional framework create the possibility of mobilizing a greater diversity of arrangements and forms of production by incorporating the first group, compared to those subjected to greater distances. However, this proximity relationship does not qualitatively change their situation of vulnerability and resilience. Empirical evidences were identified, which show that because of the uniqueness of the elements of the natural system and the past experience of families in a socioeconomic context, they differ substantially in terms of access capacity and mobilizing ability of the main factors that shape such competence and exerts an influence that modifies the factors that may expose them to the risks and dangers that arise from changes in the environment in their manner of ensuring social and material reproduction. Thus, it is possible to assert that the conditions of the social and institutional factors exert a major influence on the generation of situations that may involve a weakness or an inability to cope or adapt to contemporary environmental changes.

O presente trabalho de tese tem como objetivo identificar e compreender os principais fatores que estão subjacentes à formação das situações de vulnerabilidade e de resiliência social entre os agricultores familiares que residem na região do Alto Guaporé, no estado de Mato Grosso, diante das mudanças ambientais contemporâneas. Dentro do quadro teórico aqui desenvolvido, as reações ou os ajustamentos a esses processos, mobilizados e traduzidos pela noção de capacidade adaptativa ou de enfrentamento não são condicionadas a previsões ou respostas comportamentais futuras, mas determinadas pela capacidade que indivíduos ou grupos possuem em mobilizar ou transformar os mecanismos necessários que lhes permite contornar e/ou superar as barreiras que os expõem à uma situação de risco. Isso implica em reconhecer que as iniciativas que buscam garantir a subsistência familiar são o resultado objetivo da ação vinculada à experiência cotidiana na interação que ocorre entre os sistemas natural e social e pressupõe a existência de processos de aprendizagem individual e/ou coletiva. Com isso, a partir da identificação das principais estratégias de subsistência mobilizadas pelos agricultores familiares dessa região, foi possível apontar os principais fatores sociais e/ou naturais que constrangem ou mesmo facilitam a produção de respostas às mudanças ambientais contemporâneas. Como consequência, permitiu que se determinasse quais são os aspectos que caracterizam a vulnerabilidades e como se melhora tanto a capacidade de enfrentamento, quanto a adaptabilidade dos agricultores familiares no Alto Guaporé, num cenário de profunda incerteza e rápida transformação dos fatores que integram os sistemas natural e social. Assim, essa tese trata fundamentalmente da maneira como os agricultores que residem nessa região viabilizam melhores condições de vida e como fazem para garantir o processo de reprodução econômica e assim viabilizar a subsistência familiar. Para tanto, foram realizadas 65 entrevistas com agricultores em cinco diferentes municípios, mas em dois diferentes contextos: aquelas mobilizadas pelos agricultores que se localizam em áreas próximas aos centros urbanos, em distâncias não superiores aos 40 km e as que estão em locais mais distantes, entre 50 e 100 km dos perímetros urbanos. O estudo revelou que alguns aspectos do funcionamento do quadro institucional criam a possibilidade de mobilização de uma diversidade maior de arranjos e formas de produção pelos que integram o primeiro grupo, comparativamente aos que estão submetidos a distâncias maiores. Todavia, essa relação de proximidade não modifica qualitativamente a sua situação de vulnerabilidade e de resiliência. Foram identificadas evidências empíricas que demonstram que em razão da singularidade dos elementos do sistema natural e a experiência passada das famílias em um contexto socioeconômico, elas diferem substancialmente em termos de capacidade de acesso e habilidade de mobilização dos principais fatores que modelam essa competência e exerce uma influência que modifica os fatores que podem expô-los aos riscos e aos perigos que decorrem das transformações no ambiente em sua maneira de garantir a reprodução familiar. Dessa maneira, é possível afirmar que são as condições dos fatores sociais e institucionais que exercem a principal influência na geração de situações que podem implicar numa fragilidade ou mesmo numa incapacidade de enfrentar ou se adaptar às mudanças ambientais contemporâneas. / This thesis aims at identifying and understanding the main factors underlying the formation of the situations of vulnerability and social resilience among farmers living in the Alto Guaporé region in the state of Mato Grosso, in relation to the contemporary environmental changes. Within the theoretical framework developed here, reactions or adjustments to these processes, mobilized and translated by the notion of adaptive capacity and coping are not conditioned to forecasts or future behavioral responses, but are determined by the ability that individuals or groups have to mobilize or transform the necessary mechanisms that allow them to bypass and/or overcome the barriers that expose them to a risk situation. This implies recognizing that initiatives that seek to ensure family subsistence are the objective result of the action linked to the everyday experience in the interaction that occurs between the natural and social systems and requires the existence of individuals an/or collective processes. Thus, taking as our starting point the identification of the main subsistence strategies mobilized by the farmers of this region, it was possible to identify the main social and / or natural factors that constrain or even facilitate the production of answers to contemporary environmental changes. As a result, it was possible to determine the aspects that characterize the vulnerabilities as well as to improve the coping ability and the adaptability of farmers in Alto Guaporé, in a scenario of deep uncertainty and rapid transformation of the factors that integrate the natural and social systems. Thus, this thesis mainly deals with the construction of strategies mobilized by farmers living in this region to ensure family subsistence. For this purpose, 65 interviews with farmers were held in five different cities, but in two different contexts: that mobilized by farmers who are located in areas close to urban centers, within no greater distances than 40 km and that afield, between 50 and 100 km from urban perimeters. The study revealed that some aspects of the functioning of the institutional framework create the possibility of mobilizing a greater diversity of arrangements and forms of production by incorporating the first group, compared to those subjected to greater distances. However, this proximity relationship does not qualitatively change their situation of vulnerability and resilience. Empirical evidences were identified, which show that because of the uniqueness of the elements of the natural system and the past experience of families in a socioeconomic context, they differ substantially in terms of access capacity and mobilizing ability of the main factors that shape such competence and exerts an influence that modifies the factors that may expose them to the risks and dangers that arise from changes in the environment in their manner of ensuring social and material reproduction. Thus, it is possible to assert that the conditions of the social and institutional factors exert a major influence on the generation of situations that may involve a weakness or an inability to cope or adapt to contemporary environmental changes.

As the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age in the coming decades, American metropolitan areas face the serious problem of an increased demand for supportive services. This situation is complicated by the fact that many of the elderly will have limited financial resources, leading to a growing number of seniors struggling with poverty and financial insecurity. At the same time, federal funding for social services is shrinking, and local organizations will play a key role in supporting the low-income elderly in American metropolitan areas. The concept of social resilience offers a useful starting point for understanding the mechanisms that hinder or enable local communities and individuals, in order to recognize and cope with the slow, continuous changes that these demographic changes present. A resilient metropolitan area is one in which markets, local political structures, communities, and individuals continually adapt to changing conditions. This research focuses on the adaptive resilience of the Phoenix metropolitan area through the ability of systems to support low-income seniors to age in place, independently, for as long as possible. Phoenix is an attractive retirement location, and the case study aims to understand if and how the metropolitan area is preparing for the impending demographic changes, viewed as a lasting disturbance. The research uses a descriptive quantitative approach based on triangulation of an online survey of local governments, expert interviews with representatives of local organizations working with the aging population, and document analysis. The major findings for the research period from 2012 to 2014 show that local level actors of public and nonprofit sectors demonstrated involvement in the network of support for the aging population, where nonprofit actors are mainly dependent on the decisions and funding of the public sector and rely increasingly on volunteer support. The current study found that only a few of the participating actors from the public sector expressed clear recognition of the extent of financial insecurity among seniors. Research also revealed an understanding of poverty as predominantly focusing on the personal faults of members of society, which does not require any proactive action from the government. The existing network of services is targeted to reactive support services, which promotes individual resilience and responsibilization. Community services, which can provide prolonged independent aging in place, are less developed or in the early stages of development; operation of these services anticipates significant involvement of volunteers as well. Funding shortages challenge the ability of the public and nonprofit sectors to maintain the existing level of support services for a growing population, and actors need to compensate through local partnerships and innovations. From a theoretical perspective, the research results show that adaptation to the growing number of aging people is emerging in the Phoenix metropolitan area, while financial insecurity is widely considered the personal responsibility of seniors. A reliance on public engagement also refers to individual resilience and can be seen as the next step of a responsibilization process in American society. Thus, the role of individual resilience is growing in American society compared to the role of social or community resilience. A balance should be found that recognizes the power of and limits to both individual and social resilience in creating a social realm that benefits all citizens.

Small-scale fishing communities along Cambodia’s coast have relied on marine resources as a mainstay of their livelihood for decades. However, in the last ten to fifteen years, a confluence of shocks such as increased fishing pressure, the rapid rise of commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Thailand, illegal, underreported and unregulated fishing, climate change and, more recently, sand mining, have contributed to a progressive decline in catch. Such challenges demand that fishers harness social traits of adaptability, responsiveness, persistence, planning, inter alia. In other words, there is a need for fishers and their households to demonstrate resilience in the face of such challenges. Though a contested term, scholars working within human-environment relations have adopted the concept of social-ecological resilience, acknowledging that the social aspects of resilience have been relatively under-addressed. Relatedly, studies on fishers and fishing communities have shown the important contribution fishing plays in fulfilling social and psychological needs, i.e. wellbeing, and how fishing is more than ‘just’ a livelihood. While evidence for this connection between fishing and wellbeing has been shown across different regions, the nature of this relationship is not as clear for coastal communities in Cambodia. Meanwhile, Cambodia has exhibited rapid economic growth (and foreign direct investment) over the past decade. Part of this has been through the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) across the country. The creation of the SEZs and thus, the resultant labour demand has catalyzed migration of Cambodians to secondary cities and to the capital, Phnom Penh. Unlike other parts of the country, the experience of the lives of people on the move from the coastal regions of Cambodia remains less understood. Through qualitative work done among three coastal fishing villages in Koh Kong province in southwest Cambodia, I aim to contribute to a better understanding of the social dimensions of resilience by using a multidimensional (material, subjective, and relational) social wellbeing framework to not only better understand how migration affects the wellbeing of those who leave and those who stay, but also the implications on fishing as ‘a way of life’. My research focuses on understanding the role fishing plays, and the degree to which it impacts the wellbeing of fishers and their households in coastal Cambodia, in the context of migration. My empirical findings problematize the notion that fishing as a way of life supplants other dimensions (e.g. material/income) as observed elsewhere by considering outmigration of villagers from the fishing village. I find that the draw of alternative economic opportunities outside the coastal village has resulted in shifting values and opinions towards fishing as a livelihood particularly by younger villagers and has catalyzed their out migration. As a livelihood strategy, migration plays a crucial role in supplementing income from fishing and, in some cases, forms a critical lifeline for the poorest households. I also show how life in the coastal fishing village is filled with trade-offs and difficult choices people must navigate and negotiate, including tensions between various aspects within subjective dimensions of wellbeing. My thesis reveals the important, and sometimes dominant, influence of subjective and psycho-social factors on coastal villagers’ resilience and how this changes the way some view fishing itself. As such this research shows that adopting a social wellbeing lens can not only result in a better understanding of the impact of migration on coastal fishing communities in Cambodia but also broaden understanding of social resilience, for villagers and migrants who are facing a sea of environmental and economic change.

As the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age in the coming decades, American metropolitan areas face the serious problem of an increased demand for supportive services. This situation is complicated by the fact that many of the elderly will have limited financial resources, leading to a growing number of seniors struggling with poverty and financial insecurity. At the same time, federal funding for social services is shrinking, and local organizations will play a key role in supporting the low-income elderly in American metropolitan areas. The concept of social resilience offers a useful starting point for understanding the mechanisms that hinder or enable local communities and individuals, in order to recognize and cope with the slow, continuous changes that these demographic changes present. A resilient metropolitan area is one in which markets, local political structures, communities, and individuals continually adapt to changing conditions. This research focuses on the adaptive resilience of the Phoenix metropolitan area through the ability of systems to support low-income seniors to age in place, independently, for as long as possible. Phoenix is an attractive retirement location, and the case study aims to understand if and how the metropolitan area is preparing for the impending demographic changes, viewed as a lasting disturbance. The research uses a descriptive quantitative approach based on triangulation of an online survey of local governments, expert interviews with representatives of local organizations working with the aging population, and document analysis. The major findings for the research period from 2012 to 2014 show that local level actors of public and nonprofit sectors demonstrated involvement in the network of support for the aging population, where nonprofit actors are mainly dependent on the decisions and funding of the public sector and rely increasingly on volunteer support. The current study found that only a few of the participating actors from the public sector expressed clear recognition of the extent of financial insecurity among seniors. Research also revealed an understanding of poverty as predominantly focusing on the personal faults of members of society, which does not require any proactive action from the government. The existing network of services is targeted to reactive support services, which promotes individual resilience and responsibilization. Community services, which can provide prolonged independent aging in place, are less developed or in the early stages of development; operation of these services anticipates significant involvement of volunteers as well. Funding shortages challenge the ability of the public and nonprofit sectors to maintain the existing level of support services for a growing population, and actors need to compensate through local partnerships and innovations. From a theoretical perspective, the research results show that adaptation to the growing number of aging people is emerging in the Phoenix metropolitan area, while financial insecurity is widely considered the personal responsibility of seniors. A reliance on public engagement also refers to individual resilience and can be seen as the next step of a responsibilization process in American society. Thus, the role of individual resilience is growing in American society compared to the role of social or community resilience. A balance should be found that recognizes the power of and limits to both individual and social resilience in creating a social realm that benefits all citizens.