Abstract

This lecture brings the theory of uncertainty into productive dialogue with the policy imperatives of resilience. Far from seeing uncertainty as a marginal dysfunction or source of noise, it is argued that uncertainty is, in fact, the irreducible environment of human action and thus also social organisation. Drawing on biology, sociology, logic and political science, the paper considers the foundational properties of uncertainty against the backdrop of the philosophy of contingency. It then proceeds to a conceptualization of resilience that remains elastic across academic disciplines and lends itself to policy applications. Some of these applications are illustrated in the fields of mental health, cybersecurity, legality and healthy cities.

About the Speaker

Prof. Colin Grant is the Vice Principal (International) of Queen Mary University of London. He was inaugural Vice President (International) at the University of Southampton, leading its International Strategy and developing its India and ASEAN sub-strategies. He has worked across the world and has led a number of international partnerships. These include his roles as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Internationalisation) at the University of Surrey and the University of Bath respectively, leading research and policy partnerships in South Africa, Brazil, South Korea, USA, China and Jordan. Prof. Grant studied applied languages, literature and European Studies at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh and took his Ph.D. in literature as a form of political communication at the University of Bath in 1993. He is a professor of human and political communication, with a focus on communication in unstable environments. He has published nine books within his field and has worked as an academic in the UK, Germany and Brazil.