Information Resilience as a Relational Infrastructure of Society: Collective Preparedness from the Standpoint of Citizens

The integration of society into preparedness, as assumed in policy papers, necessitates the inclusion of citizens and knowledge-sharing among actors to incorporate bottom-up perspectives. However, a diverse and complex information environment can challenge citizen involvement and hinder collective efforts to tackle mis- and disinformation. In this chapter, I analyze information resilience from a relational perspective by scrutinizing collective agency through the concepts of ‘relational infrastructure’ and ‘human-informational platform’. These concepts may help to illuminate the social and collective features of information resilience from the standpoint of citizenry. Through relational analysis, the chapter presents a perspective on informational adversities in civil society as a collective phenomenon. These challenges can be addressed only partially through individual capacities. Building on this insight, the chapter seeks to contribute to processual perspectives of collective preparedness, which may enhance collective capabilities in information resilience. Informational integration, relational work, and relational openness are analyzed as processes of collective preparedness. The analysis produces a comprehensive and inclusive vision of information resilience as a collective phenomenon. In addition to institutional and organizational frameworks, integrating the whole-of-society into preparedness from a collective perspective requires focusing on both informal and formal relationships as sources of informational adversities and successes in society.