A conceptual model of national resilience: from colonial violence to cultural resistance

Abstract

This article analyzes approaches to studying the resilience of Ukrainian society under Russia's full-scale invasion and develops an integrated conceptual model of societal resilience. Using systematic review and conceptual modelling, the authors map interconnections between societal resilience, agency, cultural resistance, and violence — categories that have thus far developed largely within separate strands of research. The analysis identifies three main conceptual approaches to the sources of resilience: the institutional approach (institutions' capacity to function and coordinate responses under pressure), the socio-psychological approach (capacity to adapt, cope with trauma, and sustain trust and cohesion), and the cultural-values approach (shared values, national identity, and cultural practices as sources of meaning for resisting existential threats). Despite their differences, all three converge around social agency as the mechanism that converts available resources and opportunities into national resilience. The study's main contribution is integrating Galtung's multidimensional concept of structural violence with theories of cultural resistance, agency, and complex adaptive systems into a single generative model, showing how societies transform experiences of domination, violence, and threats into collective action and resilient outcomes, with cultural resistance as the central generative mechanism. This is a first attempt to combine the dimensions of resilience as capacity, process, and outcome within a single analytical framework. The model is preliminary and serves as a foundation for further theoretical development and empirical testing in diverse contexts, with Ukraine as a key case for understanding resilience under extreme and prolonged violence.