Resilient moves: Tinkering with practice theory to generate new ways of thinking about using resilience

Abstract

Recent public health policies have re-endorsed the key role all health and social care professionals have in tackling the social determinants of health inequalities. With inequalities firmly entrenched, and much theorising focused on reproduction rather than transformation, sustaining practitioner commitment and engagement with this work and maintaining confidence in achieving change is challenging. One increasingly popular way to intervene in practice to begin to address inequalities has been the use of resilience, even though resilience is frequently critiqued for its collusion with neoliberal imperatives in favouring individualised rather than socio-political responses. This article examines these concerns through the use of the practice turn and specifically ‘slim-line’ practice theory and ‘tinkering’ to explore the potential for reframing resilience theory and practice. Using an original data set derived from evaluations of resilience-based programmes, held with parents and practitioners between 2008 and 2012, this article re-examines participants’ understandings of resilience. We show how practice theory reveals entangled and emergent meanings, competencies and materials that constitute resilience as a social practice comprised of resilient moves. The implications of this reframing are discussed in relation to ontology, agency and change; but also for resilience theory and practice and public health practices more generally. In conclusion, we argue practice theory’s attention to context as more than mere backdrop to action helps shift inequality theorising beyond the individual and reproduction towards deeper, detailed social understandings of transformation and change.