Resilience to famine ca. 600 BC to present: An introduction

Abstract

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses societal resilience to food crises and famines: the responses and strategies at the societal level that effectively helped individuals and groups to cope with drops in food supply, in various parts of the world. It describes societal resilience to food shortages from the angle of the three main coordination mechanisms that, in any society, allow people to allocate or share resources: the state, the market, and civil society. The book shows that societal resilience to famine could take a great variety of forms and shapes. It examines responses to drops in food supply generated through the three coordination mechanisms in a variety of regions and periods, analyses their contribution to famine resilience, and attempts to explain the differences and changes encountered. The book provides several instances of complementarity.