1
|
Abstract
Most current approaches focused on vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation to climate change frame gender and its influence in a manner out-of-step with contemporary academic and international development research. The tendency to rely on analyses of the sex-disaggregated gender categories of 'men' and 'women' as sole or principal divisions explaining the abilities of different people within a group to adapt to climate change, illustrates this problem. This framing of gender persists in spite of established bodies of knowledge that show how roles and responsibilities that influence a person´s ability to deal with climate-induced and other stressors emerge at the intersection of diverse identity categories, including but not limited to gender, age, seniority, ethnicity, marital status, and livelihoods. Here, we provide a review of relevant literature on this topic and argue that approaching vulnerability to climate change through intersectional understandings of identity can help improve adaptation programming, project design, implementation, and outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mary Thompson-Hall
- International START Secretariat, 2000 Florida Avenue N.W., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20009 USA
| | - Edward R. Carr
- IDCE, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610-1477 USA
| | - Unai Pascual
- Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Edificio Sede Nº 1, Planta 1ª, Parque Científico de UPV/EHU, Barrio Sarriena, 48940 Leioa, Spain
- IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Maria Diaz de Haro 3, 6 floor, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
- Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, 19 Silver St., Cambridge, CB3 9EP UK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Iniesta-Arandia I, Ravera F, Buechler S, Díaz-Reviriego I, Fernández-Giménez ME, Reed MG, Thompson-Hall M, Wilmer H, Aregu L, Cohen P, Djoudi H, Lawless S, Martín-López B, Smucker T, Villamor GB, Wangui EE. A synthesis of convergent reflections, tensions and silences in linking gender and global environmental change research. Ambio 2016; 45:383-393. [PMID: 27878537 PMCID: PMC5120029 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-016-0843-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
This synthesis article joins the authors of the special issue "Gender perspectives in resilience, vulnerability and adaptation to global environmental change" in a common reflective dialogue about the main contributions of their papers. In sum, here we reflect on links between gender and feminist approaches to research in adaptation and resilience in global environmental change (GEC). The main theoretical contributions of this special issue are threefold: emphasizing the relevance of power relations in feminist political ecology, bringing the livelihood and intersectionality approaches into GEC, and linking resilience theories and critical feminist research. Empirical insights on key debates in GEC studies are also highlighted from the nine cases analysed, from Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Further, the special issue also contributes to broaden the gender approach in adaptation to GEC by incorporating research sites in the Global North alongside sites from the Global South. This paper examines and compares the main approaches adopted (e.g. qualitative or mixed methods) and the methodological challenges that derive from intersectional perspectives. Finally, key messages for policy agendas and further research are drawn from the common reflection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Irene Iniesta-Arandia
- Social-Ecological Systems Laboratory, Department of Ecology, Edificio de Biología, Calle Darwin nº 2, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Campus de Cantoblanco, C.P. 28049 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Federica Ravera
- ICAAM - Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas, LDSP - Landscape Dynamics and Social Process Research Group, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal
- CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Stephanie Buechler
- School of Geography and Development and Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, University of Arizona, 803 East 1st Street, Tucson, Arizona, 85719, USA
| | - Isabel Díaz-Reviriego
- Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss 5 Open University of Catalonia, 080193, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Edifici Z ICTA-ICP Carrer de les columnes, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - María E Fernández-Giménez
- Department of Forest & Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, 1472 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1472, USA
| | - Maureen G Reed
- University of Saskatchewan, 117 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5C8, Canada
| | - Mary Thompson-Hall
- International START Secretariat, 2000 Florida Avenue N.W., Suite 200, Washington, DC, 20009, USA
| | - Hailey Wilmer
- Department of Forest & Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, 1472 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1472, USA
| | - Lemlem Aregu
- Worldfish, West Gyogone, Bayint Naung Road, Insein Township, Yangon, 11181, Myanmar
| | - Philippa Cohen
- WorldFish, Jalan Batu Maung, Batu Maung, 11960, Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
| | - Houria Djoudi
- CIFOR, Centre for International Forestry Research, Situ Gede, Bogor Barat, Jawa Barat, 16115, Indonesia
| | - Sarah Lawless
- WorldFish, Jalan Batu Maung, Batu Maung, 11960, Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia
| | - Berta Martín-López
- Faculty of Sustainability, Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, Leuphana University, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335, Lüneburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Smucker
- Department of Geography, Ohio University, Clippinger Labs 122, Athens, OH, 45701, USA
| | - Grace B Villamor
- Center for Development Research (ZEF), Walter-Flex 3, 53113, Bonn, Germany
| | - Elizabeth Edna Wangui
- Department of Geography, Ohio University, Clippinger Labs 122, Athens, OH, 45701, USA
| |
Collapse
|