Resilience capacities of youth population for transformational development in emerging economies: in search of an eclectic framework

The economic development of a country largely depends on its sizable youth population, which offers a demographic dividend through a higher proportion of individuals in the working-age group. This potential is realized when the youth possess the necessary resilience capacities to address economic, social, and environmental vulnerabilities. While some scholars have proposed holistic perspectives on resilience by integrating various dimensions of vulnerability, existing approaches often remain narrow and fail to reflect the diverse experiences of youth in emerging economies. In this context, Bangladesh provides a relevant case as an emerging economy to examine the relationship between transformational development and the resilience capacities of its youth population. Accordingly, this study employs a qualitative approach focusing on youth from diverse backgrounds living in climate-vulnerable coastal areas of Bangladesh. It proposes an eclectic framework to guide the transformational development and resilience capacity-building of youth in emerging economies. The paper contends that without a comprehensive development of youth resilience capacities, it is difficult to foster the transformational leadership essential for sustainable development. Thus, this study contributes to the academic discourse on transformational development by highlighting the importance of holistic resilience capacity-building among youth from a resilience perspective.