The Spatial Dimension of Household Resilience : NIRSA Working Paper No.86

Abstract

This working paper provides an analysis of the spatial dimensions of household resilience in Ireland. It was produced as the Irish national report for Work Package 7 within the FP7 Project, ‘RESCuE: Patterns of resilience during socio-economic crisis among households in Europe.’ This paper includes a qualitative analysis of key spatial aspects including crisis, health and well being; home; neighbourhood; and supra local scale. Health and well-being explores the impact of the crisis on the mind and body of participants, particularly men as they coped with a higher incidence of unemployment at the beginning of the recession. The theme of home reveals how participants strategised to maintain their homes and a sense of home with reduced resources as a result of the recession. To frame the exploration of socio-spatial dynamics of crisis, poverty and resilience we distinguish between the types of ‘communities’ that exist, the homogeneity of these neighbourhoods and the changes brought about from broader economic shifts. The constraining characteristics vary between urban and rural areas but similarities emerge in the everyday experiences of movement, attachment and change