Design

Why the Case for Resilience Applies As Much to Ferguson as It Does to Hurricanes

Judith Rodin's new book offers insight for a tumultuous world.
Activists protesting against the police treatment of black Americans march towards the State Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri on December 5, 2014.REUTERS/Jim Young

Resilience, lately, is a term appropriated for whatever cause or side feels an exterior stress. We can look at the protestors in Ferguson opting to stay resilient in the face of a system that has devalued the lives of people of color. Even the police responders would see resilience a fitting term for their struggle to enforce the law and maintain order in an environment where their judgment is being constantly second-guessed.

But for Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation and author of the new book The Resilience Dividend, both of the above examples obfuscate the crucial importance of how the concept of resilience ought to be understood and embraced today.