The Power and Peril of “Vulnerability”: Approaching Community Labels with Caution in Climate Change Research (original) (raw)

Climate change in context: putting people first in the Arctic

Regional Environmental Change

Climate change is a major challenge to Arctic and other Indigenous peoples, but not the only and often not the most pressing one. We propose re-framing the treatment of climate change in policy and research, to make sure health, poverty, education, cultural vitality, equity, justice, and other topics highlighted by the people themselves and not just climate science also get the attention they deserve in research on global and regional environmental change. Climate change can often exacerbate other problems, but a singular focus on climate change-as is often the case in much existing environmental literature on the Arctic and elsewherecan distract from actions that can be taken now to improve the lives of Arctic peoples. The same logic also applies elsewhere in the world, where diverse residents face a host of challenges, opportunities, and obstacles, with climate change but one among many issues. Our proposed approach to regional and global environmental change research draws on the ideas of decolonization, emphasizing collaborative approaches and Indigenous voices in research and policy instead of top-down measures designed outside the affected communities. Only in this way of contextualizing human-environmental experiences can the full effects of climate change be understood-and appropriate responses developed and carried out to adapt to global change. Keywords Indigenous peoples. Climate change. Decolonization. Arctic. Andes For Indigenous communities in the Arctic and elsewhere, climate change poses a major challenge now and in the decades to come (AMAP 2017; Rosen 2017; Watt-Cloutier 2015), deserving the considerable scientific and media attention it attracts. And yet, it is but one among many major challenges, and often far from the most immediate concern, for many Arctic peoples as for others around the world (Forbes and

Climate change in the Arctic: current and future vulnerability in two Inuit communities in Canada

The Geographical Journal, 2008

Climate change is already occurring in the Arctic and the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment recently concluded that future climate change could be devastating for Inuit. This paper characterises vulnerability to climate change in two Inuit communities in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, focusing on the resource harvesting sector. In both communities, Inuit have demonstrated significant adaptability in the face of current changes in climatic conditions. This adaptability is facilitated by traditional Inuit knowledge, strong social networks, flexibility in resource use, and institutional support. Changing Inuit livelihoods, however, have undermined certain aspects of adaptive capacity and have resulted in emerging vulnerabilities. Global and regional climate projections indicate that climatic conditions which currently pose risks are expected to be negatively affected by future climate change. These projections are not without precedent and analysis of current vulnerability and identification of adaptation constraints by Inuit in the two communities indicate the continued importance of traditional coping mechanisms. The ability to draw on these coping mechanisms in light of future climate change, however, will be unequal and the research indicates that young Inuit and those without access to economic resources, in particular, are vulnerable.

Climate change vulnerability and adaptation research focusing on the Inuit subsistence sector in Canada: Directions for future research

The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien, 2012

The last decade has witnessed a proliferation of research into the human dimensions of climate change in the Arctic. Much of this work has examined impacts on subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping among Canadian Inuit communities. This scholarship has developed a baseline understanding of vulnerability and adaptation, drawing upon interviews with community members and stakeholders to identify and characterize climatic risks and adaptive strategies. To further advance this baseline understanding, new methodologies are needed to complement existing research if we are to capture the dynamic nature of how climate change is experienced and responded to, and fully engage communities as equal partners. Longitudinal studies, community-based monitoring, and targeted adaptation research offer significant promise to advance understanding. These methodologies provide a strong basis for developing meaningful partnerships with communities, the co-production of knowledge, and empowerment for adaptation: essential components of community-based participatory research.

Addressing Climate Change Vulnerability in Alaska Native Villages Through Indigenous Community Knowledge

Sociology Study

From a Western standpoint, Alaska Native Villages (ANVs) and other indigenous groups have a particular vulnerability to climate change. At the same time, these groups may be seen by themselves and Westerners as having particular knowledge that can help them adapt to climate change. This paper explores how ANVs are vulnerable to climate change and considers factors such as colonization that aggravate this vulnerability. It then explores how indigenous community knowledge may reduce vulnerability and facilitate adaptation and resilience. It concludes that indigenous community knowledge alone is insufficient to support adaptation and resilience, given the degree of social, political, and climate change, so long as Western institutions privilege Western science over other forms of knowledge. That said, indigenous community knowledge should inform agency decision-making and development projects and may serve as cultural capital that can support resilience. The desire to use indigenous knowledge may be a proxy for a larger issue-the need to include indigenous communities in decision-making about climate change.

Translating Climate Change: Adaptation, Resilience, and Climate Politics in Nunavut, Canada

Annals of The Association of American Geographers, 2014

This article examines the translation of key terms about climate change from English into Inuktitut, considering not only their literal translation but also the broader context within which words make sense. We argue that notions of resilience, adaptation, and climate change itself mean something fundamentally different in Inuktitut than English and that this has implications for climate policy and politics. To the extent that climate change is translated into Inuktitut as a wholly environmental phenomenon over which humans have no control, both adaptation and resilience come to be seen as appropriate and distinctly Inuit modes of relating to shifting climatic conditions, calling on practices of patience, observation, creativity, forbearance, and discretion. If translated as a matter of unethical harm of sila, however, Inuit frameworks of justice, relationality, and healing would be activated. In the context of a broader global shift away from mitigation and toward enhancing the adaptive capacities and resilience of particular populations, current modes of translating climate change, we argue, are deeply political.

A Framework for Assessing the Vulnerability of Communities in the Canadian Arctic to Risks Associated with Climate Change

ARCTIC, 2004

Adaptation to climate change is recognized as an important policy issue by international bodies such as the United Nations and by various national governments. Initiatives to identify adaptation needs and to improve adaptive capacity increasingly start with an assessment of the vulnerability of the system of interest, in terms of who and what are vulnerable, to what stresses, in what way, and what capacity exists to adapt to changing risks. Notwithstanding the scholarship on climate change itself, there are few studies on the nature of Arctic communities' vulnerability to climate-change risks. We review existing literature on implications of climate change for Arctic communities, develop a conceptual model of vulnerability, and present an analytical approach to assessing climate hazards and coping strategies in Arctic communities. Vulnerability is conceptualized as a function of exposure to climatic stresses and the adaptive capacity to cope with these stresses. The analytical framework employs place-specific case studies involving community residents and integrates information from multiple sources, both to document current exposures and adaptations and to characterize future exposures and adaptive capacity.

Should we turn the tent? Inuit women and climate change

Most of the climate change literature for Arctic Canada in the social sciences has focused on men’s knowledge and experiences. Drawing on research from Qikiqtarjuaq and Clyde River, Nunavut, we explore Inuit women’s perspectives on recent environmental changes, many of which are often attributed to climate change by Inuit or others. We divide issues resulting from environmental change into primary and secondary effects. Primary effects are changes in environmental features that affect, for example, hunting, fishing, and travelling. Secondary effects occur in the community as a result of environmental change. These include changes in the use and condition of country products like seal skins, and the psychological and social impact of environmental changes, such as going out on the land less often due to fear of dangerous conditions. We also offer a preliminary discussion on women’s role in responses to climate change, through their often dominant economic and political roles in their communities, the territory, and various wider global governance fora. Our research indicates that gender helps shape Inuit knowledge of environmental change, as well as social responses to perceptions of change. By examining women’s perceptions of environmental change, we draw attention to the social aspects and also highlight how women can contribute to adaptation, not only to physical changes but also to the resulting social changes.