Ben,
I will leave it here, and then we should take this back channel so as
not to scare anyone off the list, but the term "gadfly" in my initial
email was deliberately chosen --

Socrates said, "For if you kill me, you will not easily find another
such person at all, even if to say in a ludicrous way, attached on the
city by the god, like on a large and well-bred horse, by its size and
laziness both needing arousing by some gadfly; in this way the god
seems to have fastened me on the city, some such one who arousing and
persuading and reproaching each one of you I do not stop the whole day
settling down all over."

It was clear that your arguments were meant in seriousness,
appreciated as such (by me at least), and that they strike at the
heart of the matter so bluntly, I found intellectually delightful,
thus "funny" in the sense that you turned every sense of the word
resilience on its head.

We should leave it here for the sake of this young list getting off
the ground, but if you'd like to talk more, you have my email.

Best,

Zeno

On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 5:02 AM, Ben Wisner <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Dear 163, Hugh and Maureen,
>
> I awoke at 5 am with the house still standing (tornado watch last night), reassurance from Hugh, and some mixed appreciation from a few of you.
>
> However, Zeno's elegant and thoughtful choice of the Americanism 'funny' causes me some alarm (my ear being atturned to the nuanced senses of terms for humour in various sub-cultures).  So I feel I should emphasise that the Monkey-turned-narrative I submitted WAS NOT A JOKE, but a serious intervention: epistemological, methodological and empirical.  Furthermore, my sending it to everyone was intentional this time, not an accident like my first email.  I would appreciate it deeply if colleagues would respect my 45 years' work in this field sufficiently to consider my skeptical position -- then reject, it,, tweak, it or debate it.
>
> I have seen too many bandwagons roll along the still rutted roads of East Africa since 1966 with banners proclaiming all sorts of linguistic cure-alls.  What good have they done for ordinary Tanzanians and Kenyans?  These groaning, wheezing circus wagons have been accompanied by hordes of 'experts' as colourless as Cirque du Soleil's clowns are colourful.  Now the wagons have mostly been replaced by $100,000 Toyota Land Cruisers with space age suspension systems so the 'experts' inside don't feel the bumps in the every more rutted rural roads.  Is 'resilience' another space age shock absorber that blunts and buffers the 'shock' of persistent poverty to dominant world views and ideologies?
>
> Maybe; maybe not.  I have an open mind.  However, I insist that the question has to be asked whether discourse rooted in daily life and struggle is not more fruitful and honest that continuing with the word smithery that serves to shore up crumbling empire.
>
> All the best,
>
> BEN
>
> Dr. Ben Wisner
>
> ----Original Message-----
> From: Zeno Franco
> Sent: Nov 14, 2011 10:50 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: emBRACE - Welcome to the Disaster Resilience list
>
> Well, not to encourage this sort of thing, but I found it pretty funny ;)
>
> Nice to know that I am not the only gadfly stirring up the pot!  Hopefully the group is...uh...resilient enough to weather a couple of errant emails.
> Best,
> Zeno
>
> --
> Zeno Franco, PhD
> Assistant Professor
> US Dept. Homeland Security Fellow (fmr)
> Dept. Family & Community Medicine
> Clinical & Translational Science Institute
> Community Engagement Key Function
> (414) 955-4372 (direct)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 9:18 PM, Ben Wisner <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Hugh and Maureen,
>>
>> I am sorry that my cri de coeur earlier today went out to the whole list.  Mea culpa.  Your response was quite sensible, and I thank you for it.  Howerver, Monkey resistant as I remain, I have used the word file someone else sent you when faced with some of the Monkey's odd little tricks, erased his responsers and used it as a template for my own.  I attach that.
>>
>> I don't, in fact, use the term 'resilience' and about as allergic to it as I am to Survey Monkey.  However, I think you may find my remarks do actually move our discussion forward by providing some rationale for my worry about R-discourse.  Anyway, I hope so.  I think you'll find having a resident skeptic almost as much fun as having a court jester.
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> BEN
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> >From: Hugh Deeming <[log in to unmask]>
>> >Sent: Nov 14, 2011 8:05 AM
>> >To: [log in to unmask]
>> >Subject: emBRACE - Welcome to the Disaster Resilience list
>> >
>> >Dear Colleagues
>> >
>> >Please accept this belated welcome to the Jiscmail Disaster Resilience List.  Encouragingly – for the emBRACE Project partners especially – the list already has a membership of 164, which seems to represent as diverse a spectrum of researchers and practitioners as you might expect, given the complex nature of the ‘resilience’ concept.
>> >
>> >This obvious interest has led us to a decide to carry out a quick survey of list members, in order that we can gain a picture of how you all understand, measure and operationalise the concept of Disaster Resilience in your work, what you think are the concept’s advantages and disadvantages and what you consider to be the key literature we should be considering during our framework development.
>> >
>> >Accordingly, we would be very grateful if you could complete the anonymous survey, which can be found at:
>> >
>> >https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VW239PT
>> >
>> >I will let the survey run until next Friday (25th Nov), after which I shall carry out some analysis and report back any findings to you as soon as possible.
>> >
>> >PLEASE NOTE: The survey is hosted on an external site, if you reply to this message you will be replying to the whole DR list.  We are keen to encourage discussion on the list but if you have any specific questions regarding the survey please email me directly at [log in to unmask]
>> >
>> >Thank you for your interest
>> >
>> >Best wishes
>> >
>> >Hugh and the emBRACE consortium
>> >
>> >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> >
>> >You have been sent this email because you are a registered member of the Disaster Resilience mailing list:
>> >
>> >This is a moderated list.
>> >
>> >If you wish to send a message to the list 'reply' or post to: [log in to unmask]
>> >
>> >If you wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list go to: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience and follow the subscribe/unsubscribe instructions
>> >
>> >For more options, visit this group at: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience
>> >
>> >- The Disaster Resilience list aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the complex term, resilience; and to identify the key dimensions of resilience across a range of disciplines and domains.
>> >- The creation of this list is linked to the FP7 project, emBRACE: Building Resilience Amongst Communities in Europe www.embrace-eu.org
>> >- emBRACE is jointly co-ordinated by Prof Debby Sapir (Universite Catholique De Louvain) and Dr Maureen Fordham (Northumbria University)
>> >- This DISASTER-RESILIENCE discussion list was launched on 13 October 2011, International Day for Disaster Reduction http://www.unisdr.org/2011/iddr/.
>> >The List is managed by Maureen Fordham, John Twigg and Hugh Deeming
>> >- The emBRACE project has received funding from the European Community‘s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 283201.  The European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the
>> >information shared on this list.
>> >
>> >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>> You have been sent this email because you are a registered member of the Disaster Resilience mailing list:
>>
>> This is a moderated list.
>>
>> If you wish to send a message to the list 'reply' or post to: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> If you wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list go to: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience and follow the subscribe/unsubscribe instructions
>>
>> For more options, visit this group at: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience
>>
>> - The Disaster Resilience list aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the complex term, resilience; and to identify the key dimensions of resilience across a range of disciplines and domains.
>> - The creation of this list is linked to the FP7 project, emBRACE: Building Resilience Amongst Communities in Europe www.embrace-eu.org
>> - emBRACE is jointly co-ordinated by Prof Debby Sapir (Universite Catholique De Louvain) and Dr Maureen Fordham (Northumbria University)
>> - This DISASTER-RESILIENCE discussion list was launched on 13 October 2011, International Day for Disaster Reduction http://www.unisdr.org/2011/iddr/.
>> The List is managed by Maureen Fordham, John Twigg and Hugh Deeming
>> - The emBRACE project has received funding from the European Community‘s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 283201.  The European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the
>> information shared on this list.
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> You have been sent this email because you are a registered member of the Disaster Resilience mailing list:
>
> This is a moderated list.
>
> If you wish to send a message to the list 'reply' or post to: [log in to unmask]
>
> If you wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list go to: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience and follow the subscribe/unsubscribe instructions
>
> For more options, visit this group at: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience
>
> - The Disaster Resilience list aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the complex term, resilience; and to identify the key dimensions of resilience across a range of disciplines and domains. - The creation of this list is linked to the FP7 project, emBRACE: Building Resilience Amongst Communities in Europe www.embrace-eu.org - emBRACE is jointly co-ordinated by Prof Debby Sapir (Universite Catholique De Louvain) and Dr Maureen Fordham (Northumbria University) - This DISASTER-RESILIENCE discussion list was launched on 13 October 2011, International Day for Disaster Reduction http://www.unisdr.org/2011/iddr/. The List is managed by Maureen Fordham, John Twigg and Hugh Deeming - The emBRACE project has received funding from the European Community‘s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 283201. The European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information shared on this list.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> You have been sent this email because you are a registered member of the Disaster Resilience mailing list:
>
> This is a moderated list.
>
> If you wish to send a message to the list 'reply' or post to: [log in to unmask]
>
> If you wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list go to: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience and follow the subscribe/unsubscribe instructions
>
> For more options, visit this group at: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience
>
> - The Disaster Resilience list aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the complex term, resilience; and to identify the key dimensions of resilience across a range of disciplines and domains. - The creation of this list is linked to the FP7 project, emBRACE: Building Resilience Amongst Communities in Europe www.embrace-eu.org - emBRACE is jointly co-ordinated by Prof Debby Sapir (Universite Catholique De Louvain) and Dr Maureen Fordham (Northumbria University) - This DISASTER-RESILIENCE discussion list was launched on 13 October 2011, International Day for Disaster Reduction http://www.unisdr.org/2011/iddr/. The List is managed by Maureen Fordham, John Twigg and Hugh Deeming - The emBRACE project has received funding from the European Community‘s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 283201. The European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information shared on this list.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You have been sent this email because you are a registered member of the Disaster Resilience mailing list:

This is a moderated list.

If you wish to send a message to the list 'reply' or post to: [log in to unmask]

If you wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list go to: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience and follow the subscribe/unsubscribe instructions

For more options, visit this group at: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/disaster-resilience

- The Disaster Resilience list aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the complex term, resilience; and to identify the key dimensions of resilience across a range of disciplines and domains.
- The creation of this list is linked to the FP7 project, emBRACE: Building Resilience Amongst Communities in Europe www.embrace-eu.org
- emBRACE is jointly co-ordinated by Prof Debby Sapir (Universite Catholique De Louvain) and Dr Maureen Fordham (Northumbria University)
- This DISASTER-RESILIENCE discussion list was launched on 13 October 2011, International Day for Disaster Reduction http://www.unisdr.org/2011/iddr/.
The List is managed by Maureen Fordham, John Twigg and Hugh Deeming
- The emBRACE project has received funding from the European Community‘s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n° 283201.  The European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the
information shared on this list.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~