Keystone theories of postcrisis discourse: Communication Theory of Resilience and Discourse of Renewal

Abstract

Theories of resilience are keystones for understanding how individuals, small groups, organizations, and communities arrive at collective meaning, resolve uncertainty, and respond to crisis events. In response to a crisis, organizations can pursue three goals: Returning to the prior equilibrium, creating a new equilibrium with new processes and policies, or a combination of the two. Theories of resilience and renewal address these responses. Resilience has been applied in a diverse set of academic fields as well as in public policy discussions and in popular culture. This broad application, however, has resulted in conceptual confusion and conflicting interpretations. We explore the origins of resilience and its characteristics. We then review two discipline-specific postcrisis theories, The Communication Theory of Resilience and Discourse of Renewal. We ask, how can these theories enrich understanding of postcrisis adaptive processes and create for a more comprehensive picture of how individuals and organizations respond to crises? Taken together, they provide a broader framework for understanding the role of postcrisis discourse and informing practitioners in the enactment of responses.