Socio-Ecological Resilience in Sharon Bala's The Boat People

Abstract

This article examines the notion of socio-ecological resilience and its current alignment with neoliberalism in Sharon Bala’s The Boat People (2018). Drawing on Philippe Bourbeau’s theorizing about the interconnection of resilience and security and contemporary studies of resilience, this article explores the current use of socio-ecological resilience as a government strategy to deal with global humanitarian crises posed by refugees and asylum seekers. Moreover, this article examines the main elements, motifs, and narrative devices used in the novel to produce an aesthetics that highlights the chaos, uncertainty, and hopelessness resulting from the articulation of political notions of resilience in neoliberal times.