The tendency of previous research on vulnerability and resilience is to measure these two factors as quantifiable variables that vary between social strata and social groups. Past findings often emphasize structural factors, such as inequality and power relations. My fieldwork on survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake complements this paradigm in two steps. First, I display the ‘inter-’ and ‘intra-categorical’ variations of five social categories, each with its own advantages, limits, goals, and difficulties. The resilience of the survivors varies qualitatively and cannot be reduced to a unidimensional scale. Second, I develop a framework of resilience based on the degrees of structure and agency. I identify five modes of resilience: well-integrated, renouncing, activist, defeated, and treading water. This framework can be used to assess the resource distribution of a community, locate people in need and people who can contribute and design proper interventions.

中文翻译：

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灾害中的脆弱性和复原力：2008 年四川地震中的结构性约束和幸存者机构

以往关于脆弱性和复原力的研究倾向于将这两个因素作为不同社会阶层和社会群体之间变化的可量化变量来衡量。过去的研究结果往往强调结构性因素，例如不平等和权力关系。我对 2008 年四川地震幸存者的实地调查通过两个步骤补充了这一范式。首先，我展示了五个社会类别的“类别间”和“类别内”变体，每个类别都有自己的优势、限制、目标和困难。幸存者的适应力存在质的变化，不能归结为一维尺度。其次，我根据结构和代理的程度开发了一个弹性框架。我确定了五种韧性模式：良好整合、放弃、激进、失败和踩水。