<p>The article proposes a new theoretical framework based on the conception of organized complexity and aims at linking fundamental dynamic properties of socio-economic systems to their architecture of connectivity. It emphasizes the role of stable intermediate forms and near-decomposability as the key to understanding vulnerability and resilience. The proposed approach provides a theoretical foundation for the role of redundancy as a condition lowering specific vulnerabilities, thus contributing – under certain conditions - to enhancing a system’s resilience. The framework suggests that, while at intermediate levels of connectivity, increasing redundancy helps mitigate vulnerability, beyond a certain threshold, redundancy is usually associated with a return to rising vulnerability (vulnerability-redundancy paradox). The paper concludes by offering insights into policymakers to design interventions able to manage the trade-offs between vulnerability and efficiency</p>