The basic objective of the research consisted in the elucidation of the term resilience in its historical evolution, as well as the systematization of current theories of resilience. In order to achieve the proposed objective, a historiographical incursion of resilience was carried out and a synthesis study of the current contextual approaches to resilience, as well as of the criteria and perspectives of their systematization was made. As a result of the research, the stages in the expansion of the concept of resilience were generalized and graphically exposed; the contributions of researchers in the adoption of the term “resilience” by different fields of research and practical activity were elucidated; the visions of how to systematize theories of resilience were reflected. The research resulted in the proposal of an additional criterion for systematizing the definitions of resilience, as well as the formulation of an own definition derived from the evolutionary approach.
