If Resilience is the Answer, What is the Real Question? A Critical Examination of Resilience as a Theoretical Concept and a Policy Tool

Resilience has emerged as a central concept in contemporary discourses on risk management and policy response across diverse fields, ranging from urban development to international relations. Often framed as a technical necessity for addressing crises such as climate change, pandemics, migration, and geopolitical conflicts, resilience is increasingly presented as the ideal framework for maintaining stability in an uncertain world. However, this paper argues that resilience, as it is currently understood and applied, is not merely a neutral or inevitable response to systemic threats. Instead, it represents an ideological construct rooted in neoliberal political-economic logic, serving as a tool for consolidating and legitimising existing power structures. Contributing to the broader discussion of institutional resilience, this paper critically examines resilience as both a theoretical framework and a practical policy approach within international organizations (IOs). It explores how resilience emerged as the dominant paradigm in neoliberal governance, tracing its origins to key ideological currents and its affinities with concepts such as adaptation, equilibrium, and system functionality. The paper interrogates the genealogy of resilience, analyzing its development as a model of governance alongside the material outcomes of resilience policies. Furthermore, the paper considers the implications of resilience for the legitimacy and effectiveness of IOs. By linking resilience to spatial policy, it demonstrates how IOs operationalize resilience to address pressing global challenges, including environmental disasters, migration, and security threats. In doing so, it critically evaluates whether resilience enhances IOs’ capacity to fulfill their mandates or primarily accommodates neoliberal priorities under the guise of innovation, ultimately reinforcing existing inequalities and power asymmetries. By dissecting resilience as both an ideological construct and a policy tool, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of its social, political, and economic dimensions, offering new insights into its role in shaping contemporary governance and the global order.