This critical essay reviews two recent simultaneous exhibits at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City in order to place the concept of resilience in the contemporary context of human insecurity and violence.It shows how the notion of resilient life is uncritically espoused by some contemporary artists and photographers in a way that renders the concept of resilience commonplace, expected, and unproblematic and, as such, incapable of offering a necessary challenge to various forms of violence against bodies and lives today.

Debrix, F. (0AD) ‘Making Sense of Resilient Life at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City’, SPECTRA, {volume}({issue}), p. {page}. Available at: https://doi.org/10.21061/spectra.v6i2.a.4.

Debrix, F. “Making Sense of Resilient Life at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City”. SPECTRA, vol. {volume}, no. {issue}, 0AD, p. {page}, doi:10.21061/spectra.v6i2.a.4.

Debrix, F. (0AD). Making Sense of Resilient Life at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City. SPECTRA, {volume}({issue}), {page}. https://doi.org/10.21061/spectra.v6i2.a.4

Debrix, Francois. 0AD. “Making Sense of Resilient Life at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City”. SPECTRA {volume} ({issue}): {page}. https://doi.org/10.21061/spectra.v6i2.a.4.

1. Debrix F. Making Sense of Resilient Life at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City. SPECTRA. 0AD;{volume}({issue}):{page}. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21061/spectra.v6i2.a.4

1. Debrix F. Making Sense of Resilient Life at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City. SPECTRA. 0AD;{volume}({issue}):{page}. doi:10.21061/spectra.v6i2.a.4

Debrix F, ‘Making Sense of Resilient Life at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City’ (0AD) {volume} SPECTRA {page} DOI: https://doi.org/10.21061/spectra.v6i2.a.4

[1]F. Debrix, “Making Sense of Resilient Life at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City”, SPECTRA, vol. {volume}, no. {issue}, p. {page}, 0AD, doi: 10.21061/spectra.v6i2.a.4.

In recent years, the discourse around resilience has generated controversy among activists and scholars. Construed as adaptability and capacity to resist external pressures, resilience has often been rendered an admirable feature of indigenous populations, readily appropriable to neoliberal narratives and practices. In this context, Julian Reid has advanced a critical intervention in the discourse, challenging the pervasive assumption that resilience is an unequivocally desirable quality and, ultimately, questioning whether it remains a useful concept today. SPECTRA decided to dedicate issue 6.2 to the topic of resilience, not so much to resolve the question, but rather to present resilience as a multilayered term interfacing with global struggles, precarious subjectivities, and aesthetic representations.

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Essays

Making Sense of Resilient Life at the International Center of Photography Museum in New York City

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