| E&S Home > Vol. 12, Iss. 1 > Art. 24 > Abstract |
|
Resilience, Panarchy, and World-Systems Analysis
Nicholas M. Gotts, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
understanding of social-ecological systems developed around the term
"resilience," and more recently the term "panarchy," in the work of
Holling, Gunderson, and others. The second is Wallerstein's "world-systems" approach to analyzing hierarchical relationships between societies
within global capitalism as developed and applied across a broader
historical range by Chase-Dunn and others. The two structures have
important common features, notably their multiscale explanatory
framework, links with ideas concerning complex systems, and interest
in cyclical phenomena. They also have important differences. It is argued
that there are gaps in both sets of ideas that the other might remedy.
Their greatest strengths lie at different spatiotemporal scales and
in different disciplinary areas, but each also has weaknesses the
other does not address, particularly with regard to the mechanisms
underlying proposed cyclic patterns of events. The paper ends with a
sketch for a research program within which panarchical and
world-systems insights might be synthesised in the study of the "Great
European Land-Grab," i.e., the expansion of European capitalism and its
distinctive social-ecological systems over the past five centuries.
Full Text: HTML 
Download Citation
Abstract
The paper compares two ambitious conceptual structures. The first is theunderstanding of social-ecological systems developed around the term
"resilience," and more recently the term "panarchy," in the work of
Holling, Gunderson, and others. The second is Wallerstein's "world-systems" approach to analyzing hierarchical relationships between societies
within global capitalism as developed and applied across a broader
historical range by Chase-Dunn and others. The two structures have
important common features, notably their multiscale explanatory
framework, links with ideas concerning complex systems, and interest
in cyclical phenomena. They also have important differences. It is argued
that there are gaps in both sets of ideas that the other might remedy.
Their greatest strengths lie at different spatiotemporal scales and
in different disciplinary areas, but each also has weaknesses the
other does not address, particularly with regard to the mechanisms
underlying proposed cyclic patterns of events. The paper ends with a
sketch for a research program within which panarchical and
world-systems insights might be synthesised in the study of the "Great
European Land-Grab," i.e., the expansion of European capitalism and its
distinctive social-ecological systems over the past five centuries.
Key words
adaptive cycle; cross-scale interaction; panarchy; population; resilience; technology; world-systems.
Ecology and Society. ISSN: 1708-3087