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Weapons of the vulnerable? A review of popular resistance to climate adaptation

Brink, Ebba LU ; Vargas Falla, Ana Maria LU and Boyd, Emily LU (2023) In Global Environmental Change 80.
Abstract
Climate adaptation is not a neutral or apolitical process, but one that ignites social resistance. Government responses to risks of floods, droughts, or hurricanes – even those using a language of participation – might follow historical development pathways, strive to maintain the status quo, and directly or indirectly serve elite interests. Little attention has been paid to how people defy or resist top-down adaptation processes, overtly or covertly, in particular cultural, historical, and legal contexts. Drawing on sociological thought on popular resistance, this paper systematises research on people’s resistance to climate adaptation by scrutinising the sites, repertoires, and consequences of such resistance. We identified overt and... (More)
Climate adaptation is not a neutral or apolitical process, but one that ignites social resistance. Government responses to risks of floods, droughts, or hurricanes – even those using a language of participation – might follow historical development pathways, strive to maintain the status quo, and directly or indirectly serve elite interests. Little attention has been paid to how people defy or resist top-down adaptation processes, overtly or covertly, in particular cultural, historical, and legal contexts. Drawing on sociological thought on popular resistance, this paper systematises research on people’s resistance to climate adaptation by scrutinising the sites, repertoires, and consequences of such resistance. We identified overt and covert resistance in 56 scientific adaptation articles, which concentrated on 5 ‘sites’ of resistance: Rural livelihoods, Urban informal settlements, Islands, First Nations, and Institutional landscapes. The findings imply that resistance to adaptation occurs globally, and not least in the context of relocation processes and participatory adaptation. We show how a resistance lens can help understand contemporary political behaviours, shed light on dynamic and compound vulnerability, and’unlock’ more context-sensitive and even transformative adaptation. Meanwhile, resistance and popular movements are not only progressive, and there might be conceptual barriers to moving from resistance to transformation or reconciling resistance with actions by or with the state. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
sociological resistance, climate change adaptation, vulnerability, adaptation pathways
in
Global Environmental Change
volume
80
article number
102656
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85149882685
ISSN
0959-3780
DOI
10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102656
project
Everyday forms of resistance to state adaptation regulation: An ethnographic study of responses in informal settlements (RESIST)
Everyday forms of resistance to state adaptation regulation: An ethnographic study of responses in informal settlements
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
abc85705-9ec4-4247-bea1-5beef29b9c64
date added to LUP
2023-03-20 14:32:12
date last changed
2024-02-14 15:26:50
@article{abc85705-9ec4-4247-bea1-5beef29b9c64,
  abstract     = {{Climate adaptation is not a neutral or apolitical process, but one that ignites social resistance. Government responses to risks of floods, droughts, or hurricanes – even those using a language of participation – might follow historical development pathways, strive to maintain the status quo, and directly or indirectly serve elite interests. Little attention has been paid to how people defy or resist top-down adaptation processes, overtly or covertly, in particular cultural, historical, and legal contexts. Drawing on sociological thought on popular resistance, this paper systematises research on people’s resistance to climate adaptation by scrutinising the sites, repertoires, and consequences of such resistance. We identified overt and covert resistance in 56 scientific adaptation articles, which concentrated on 5 ‘sites’ of resistance: Rural livelihoods, Urban informal settlements, Islands, First Nations, and Institutional landscapes. The findings imply that resistance to adaptation occurs globally, and not least in the context of relocation processes and participatory adaptation. We show how a resistance lens can help understand contemporary political behaviours, shed light on dynamic and compound vulnerability, and’unlock’ more context-sensitive and even transformative adaptation. Meanwhile, resistance and popular movements are not only progressive, and there might be conceptual barriers to moving from resistance to transformation or reconciling resistance with actions by or with the state.}},
  author       = {{Brink, Ebba and Vargas Falla, Ana Maria and Boyd, Emily}},
  issn         = {{0959-3780}},
  keywords     = {{sociological resistance; climate change adaptation; vulnerability; adaptation pathways}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Global Environmental Change}},
  title        = {{Weapons of the vulnerable? A review of popular resistance to climate adaptation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102656}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102656}},
  volume       = {{80}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}