Community resilience, social cohesion, and social capital are closely interrelated dimensions that explain how communities confront, endure, and transform during crises. Social cohesion refers to the quality of bonds and unity among groups, while social capital highlights the resources embedded in these connections —bonding, bridging, and linking— that facilitate organization, cooperation, and collective responses to adversity. Together, these processes are fundamental for strengthening community capacities in risk management and can foster inclusive and sustainable social transformations.

The COVID-19 pandemic and recent crises —whether of socio-natural, socio-environmental (particularly when intensified by climate change), or anthropogenic origin— have underscored the relevance of these dynamics, revealing their impact not only on adaptive responses but also on collective well-being and the pursuit of social equity. However, critical challenges remain. One involves understanding the dialectical relationship between community resilience and structural vulnerability: how local capacities can mitigate crisis impacts while simultaneously being shaped by historical inequalities, power relations, and exclusions that perpetuate risk. Another challenge lies in distinguishing self-management —the mobilization of internal resources— from relative autonomy, which acknowledges community agency negotiated within institutional frameworks and public policies. Addressing these tensions is essential to avoid romanticized views and to advance toward risk reduction approaches that integrate social justice and cultural relevance.

This Research Topic invites contributions that examine the cultural and territorial dynamics through which social cohesion and social capital enhance community resilience and contribute to well-being as a synergistic outcome of resilience building and vulnerability reduction. We welcome submissions that investigate these dynamics in crisis contexts —of socio-natural, socio-environmental (particularly intensified by climate change), or anthropogenic origin— and provide theoretical, empirical, or methodological insights to deepen understanding and inform disaster risk management and public health practices.

Potential Topics

· Mechanisms and indicators of social cohesion and social capital in strengthening community resilience.

· Influence of cultural, territorial, and socio-economic factors on resilience and structural vulnerability.

· Internal tensions within social cohesion: power dynamics, exclusion, and inequality reproduction.

· Interventions to enhance cohesion and social capital for crisis preparedness, response, and recovery.

· Comparative studies on the resilience–vulnerability relationship across different cultural contexts.

· Policy frameworks integrating cohesion, social capital, and resilience in disaster risk governance.

· Collective well-being as an emergent outcome of resilience and vulnerability reduction processes.

· Methodological approaches to studying community resilience and social cohesion, including validation or adaptation of tools and innovative multi-scalar or participatory designs.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Rethinking Community Resilience: Cultural Approaches to Social Cohesion and Social Capital in Crisis Contexts

Topic Coordinators