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Quiet resistance speaks: A global literature review of the politics of popular resistance to climate adaptation interventions

Vargas, Ana Maria Falla LU ; Brink, Ebba LU and Boyd, Emily LU (2024) In World Development 177.
Abstract
Despite that climate hazards are increasingly felt across the globe, there is widespread and often subtle resistance to climate adaptation interventions. However, adaptation research and practice have largely focused on overcoming barriers to implementation. By presuming adaptation programs are welcome, they miss that many people oppose or refuse to participate in them, and the politics hidden behind such resistance. We review the emerging academic literature on resistance to climate adaptation and uncover how diverse forms of adaptation resistance generate deep insights into overlooked local needs and aspirations. While it could be expected that ‘loud’ forms of resistance, such as protests, prompted some adaptation initiatives to... (More)
Despite that climate hazards are increasingly felt across the globe, there is widespread and often subtle resistance to climate adaptation interventions. However, adaptation research and practice have largely focused on overcoming barriers to implementation. By presuming adaptation programs are welcome, they miss that many people oppose or refuse to participate in them, and the politics hidden behind such resistance. We review the emerging academic literature on resistance to climate adaptation and uncover how diverse forms of adaptation resistance generate deep insights into overlooked local needs and aspirations. While it could be expected that ‘loud’ forms of resistance, such as protests, prompted some adaptation initiatives to accommodate local needs, it was surprising to see the effects of ‘quiet’ resistance. Quiet adaptation resistance in the forms of false compliance, foot-dragging, and gossip helped affected communities to stay in their territories, maintain certain farming practices, contest exclusionary urban policies, or simply assert their agency and freedom. These results reflect that adaptation has adopted a narrow approach to development that omits the multiple and underlying causes of vulnerability – many of which are evident to those affected. We argue that even when such acts do not directly improve material conditions, they represent an alternative political engagement to reimagine adaptation considering the needs of marginalised groups beyond the participatory and community development approach. This article provides concrete examples of how quiet resistance to adaptation speaks that can help development practitioners and policy makers to better understand the limitations of adaptation initiatives and their implications for effective local security in the face of climate change. Political accountability to adaptation-targeted populations could improve adaptation investments, making them more relevant, socially sustainable, and responsive to local needs. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Adaptation, Climate change, Contestation, Development, Political engagement, Power, Resistance, Vulnerability
in
World Development
volume
177
article number
106530
pages
11 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85185171640
ISSN
0305-750X
DOI
10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106530
project
Everyday forms of resistance to state adaptation regulation: An ethnographic study of responses in informal settlements
Everyday forms of resistance to state adaptation regulation: An ethnographic study of responses in informal settlements (RESIST)
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4b6b88fe-a5b4-40cc-8178-7c6ab56b55c1
date added to LUP
2024-01-25 16:06:25
date last changed
2024-04-25 04:01:20
@article{4b6b88fe-a5b4-40cc-8178-7c6ab56b55c1,
  abstract     = {{Despite that climate hazards are increasingly felt across the globe, there is widespread and often subtle resistance to climate adaptation interventions. However, adaptation research and practice have largely focused on overcoming barriers to implementation. By presuming adaptation programs are welcome, they miss that many people oppose or refuse to participate in them, and the politics hidden behind such resistance. We review the emerging academic literature on resistance to climate adaptation and uncover how diverse forms of adaptation resistance generate deep insights into overlooked local needs and aspirations. While it could be expected that ‘loud’ forms of resistance, such as protests, prompted some adaptation initiatives to accommodate local needs, it was surprising to see the effects of ‘quiet’ resistance. Quiet adaptation resistance in the forms of false compliance, foot-dragging, and gossip helped affected communities to stay in their territories, maintain certain farming practices, contest exclusionary urban policies, or simply assert their agency and freedom. These results reflect that adaptation has adopted a narrow approach to development that omits the multiple and underlying causes of vulnerability – many of which are evident to those affected. We argue that even when such acts do not directly improve material conditions, they represent an alternative political engagement to reimagine adaptation considering the needs of marginalised groups beyond the participatory and community development approach. This article provides concrete examples of how quiet resistance to adaptation speaks that can help development practitioners and policy makers to better understand the limitations of adaptation initiatives and their implications for effective local security in the face of climate change. Political accountability to adaptation-targeted populations could improve adaptation investments, making them more relevant, socially sustainable, and responsive to local needs.}},
  author       = {{Vargas, Ana Maria Falla and Brink, Ebba and Boyd, Emily}},
  issn         = {{0305-750X}},
  keywords     = {{Adaptation; Climate change; Contestation; Development; Political engagement; Power; Resistance; Vulnerability}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{World Development}},
  title        = {{Quiet resistance speaks: A global literature review of the politics of popular resistance to climate adaptation interventions}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106530}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106530}},
  volume       = {{177}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}