"Resilience" and "Fatigue" in Grassroots Governance: The Practical Logic of Community Workers in Conflict Mediation Work

Abstract

In the process of promoting the modernization of grassroots governance, community workers, as the core force in conflict mediation, their "resilience" and "fatigue" states profoundly affect the governance effectiveness. This study adopts a mixed research method. Through field investigations, in-depth interviews and questionnaire surveys in six typical communities in the east, central and western regions, combined with the theories of resilient governance and stress management, it systematically analyzes the practical logic of community workers in conflict mediation. The research finds that workers have demonstrated strong "resilience" through means such as resource integration, relationship network construction, and policy innovation, effectively resolving various conflicts and disputes. However, at the same time, affected by work stressors, resource shortages and institutional deficiencies, 78% of workers suffer from fatigue to varying degrees, manifested as physical overwork, psychological anxiety and job burnout. "Resilience" and "fatigue" present a complex interactive relationship. "Resilience" can alleviate fatigue, while fatigue weakens the exertion of resilience, thereby affecting the effectiveness of grassroots governance. Based on this, this study proposes optimization paths from the three levels of individuals, communities and institutions, providing theoretical and practical references for improving the efficiency of grassroots governance and perfecting the conflict mediation mechanism.