Towards a general theory of resilience. Lessons from a multi-perspective research[Vers une théorie de la résilience. Leçons d'une recherche multi-perspective]

This lecture shows, out of multiple perspective research works, that resilience is a struggle against collapse. After reviewing findings from several existing research currents, the lecture presents several examples of incidents that show that under (very) adverse circumstances sociotechnical systems degrade and that their capacity to surmount adversity under those circumstances (as opposed to the post-incident period) those systems display an ability to struggle, i.e. to instrument every available margin of manoeuvre, in order to keep dangers at bay and to regain control over the course of events. Seven general conclusions, at this stage of the research, are presented. A priori, they seem to apply to any type and size of social and sociotechnical systems. Five conclusions end the lecture, in the form of points of attention for critical infrastructure protection (CIP) practitioners.