Conceptualising consumer resilience in an age of governmental responsibilisation

Abstract

This paper aims to reconsider the concept of consumer resilience within a context of increasing governmental responsibilisation. We problematise current framings promoting resilience as an idealised response to disruptive events, allocating the burden of responsibility onto individuals. Current theorisations of resilience originating from a range of disciplinary perspectives are largely individualistic. Drawing upon critical social theory and Global South perspectives informed by a broad scoping review of the literature, we offer a nuanced conceptual framework of consumer resilience that is relational, communitarian, perpetual, reconstitutional, and accounts for politics. We consider the implications of rethinking resilience through these perspectives for policy, research, and practice. We conclude by guarding against an over reliance on facilitating consumer resilience without collectively tackling the causes and effects created by disruption.