Shocks and conflicts are not the same thing. Conflicts can cause shocks and shocks can cause conflicts but still, not the same thing. The difference is important to deal with shocks, to deal with conflicts, and to think about transitions in social-ecological systems. In transitions, societies try to avoid shocks, but conflicts are to be expected. Conflict entangles with social memory, can even restructure identities, which then alters the paths of governance, and can trigger destructive backlash or, alternatively, creative solutions to sustainability problems. Shock and conflict can thus be both productive and eroding, and the productivity can be positive or negative.
New paper in Sustainability, with Raoul Beunen and Monica Gruezmacher
