Resilient or resistant? Critical reflections on resilience in an old industrial region

Abstract

Despite criticisms that emphasize the ambiguity surrounding its definition and applications, the concept of resilience is featured prominently in studies of regional economies and regionally-based industries. This paper builds on this literature through a case study of Canada's automotive industry, an old industrial region (OIR) situated primarily in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. It also provides heightened definitional rigour to the concept of resilience and in so doing, advances the concept of ‘resistance.’ We argue that resistance better characterizes regional economies and regionally-based industries whose competitive advantages have eroded, are resistant to change, and remain locked into trajectories of slow decline but persist through shocks, disruptions and interventions, policy-oriented or otherwise. The clarification of resilience as distinct from resistance carries significant implications for policy.