Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Bangladesh: Vulnerability and Gender Inequality Amy Macmahon Bachelor of Social Science

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Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Bangladesh: Vulnerability and Gender Inequality Amy Macmahon Bachelor of Social Science Climate Change Adaptation in Southwest Bangladesh: Vulnerability and Gender Inequality Amy MacMahon Bachelor of Social Science (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2017 School of Social Science Abstract The threat of climate change looms large for Bangladesh, located between the Ganges Delta and the Bay of Bengal. Climate change is expected to impact the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh, particularly those who live in coastal areas and are poor or disadvantaged. Women are considered to be particularly vulnerable as a result of gendered roles, responsibilities and limited entitlements. While there is a growing body of work regarding the ways in which gender, class, and livelihoods contribute to climate change vulnerability in Bangladesh, there is little scholarship examining adaptation in terms of its capacity to address the social and political aspects of vulnerability. In addition, much gender and climate change research suffers from static representations of women and gender relations. To address these gaps in the literature, this thesis uses adaptive capacity vulnerability theory, in conjunction with feminist political ecology, to examine the transformative capacity of adaptation initiatives in the Bagerhat region of Southwest of Bangladesh. By adopting a bottom-up approach to social enquiry, this thesis investigates, 1) The nature and community experiences of environmental and climate changes in the region; 2) The social factors that mediate experiences of environmental and climate change, including gender, class and governance; and 3) The ways in which adaptation initiatives interact with underlying causes of vulnerability, with a focus gender. Employing an embedded case study approach and utilising a range of participatory methods, this thesis makes four key findings. Firstly, climate change in Southwest Bangladesh is situated within local political, economic and ecological contexts. The impacts of climate change were found to be ‘magnifying’ a range of pre-existing environmental challenges that have occurred as a result of political and economic interventions in agriculture in the Southwest. Secondly, women’s experiences of, and responses to, environmental change were being shaped by gendered roles, responsibilities and expectations. Gender in this context was undergoing changes as a result of material needs, and women’s own agentic desires to help their communities. However, these shifts were having little impact on women’s broader capabilities and entitlements. Thirdly, the adaptation initiatives observed were doing little to enhance community capacities in climate change adaptation, and were failing to respond to macro political and economic issues. Most adaptation initiatives, including small-scale improvements to farming and livelihoods, had largely failed to address poverty, gender inequality or the underlying causes of environmental change. Rather, these ii initiatives were assigning obligations to communities, allowing governments to abdicate their responsibilities. Finally, what these findings suggest is that in order to initiate adaptation measures that are sustainable and socially just, there is a need for an approach that is inclusive and transformational – one that goes beyond the symptoms and manifestations of environmental change to incorporate understandings of the socially-constructed nature of disasters, risk and environmental change. iii Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. iv Publications during candidature “No publications”. Publications included in this thesis “No publications included”. Contributions by others to the thesis “No contributions by others.” Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree “None”. v Acknowledgements This thesis is, I hope, a reflection of my admiration for Bangladesh, and the friends and people I have met there. Moving to Bangladesh in 2011 as a young researcher was a life changing experience, and this project is the culmination of over six years of trips, conversations and dreaming. I have a great many people to thank. To my supervisors, Professor Geoffrey Lawrence and Professor Adil Khan. Thank you for your guidance, your encouragement and your patience. Your theoretical perspectives on food and the environment, your practical advice, and from Adil in particular, your essential insights regarding the politics and history of Bangladesh, have made this an enriching journey. In Bangladesh, I have many people to thank for supporting me, feeding me, giving me shelter and making me feel at home. To Naoshin Jahan, my friend, research assistant and translator, to whom myself, and this project owes so much. Thank you for your insights and endless patience. I could not have completed this project without you. Thanks also to our driver, Milton, for keeping us safe and always getting us to where we needed to be. To the team at Nabolok in Khulna, including Nur Muhammad, Reyad Karim, Tesnim Pinky and Poli Mojundur, for helping me in the field, and introducing me to a number of the communities we worked with. To the team at CARE Bangladesh, including Harun-Or-Rashid, Mehrul Islam, Fatima Seema and Jamie Terzi, for providing the project with institutional and intellectual support, and for providing me with a warm welcome at the CARE office and guest house. I’d also like to thank the staff at the ICCCAD, including Dr Saleemul Huq, for valuable guidance and feedback. In Khulna, thank you to Dr Selina Ahmed, Raj Sayantan Reza, and your whole family for giving me a safe and loving place to stay, and for being my family whilst in Khulna. Thank you for the rice and bananas, and games of badminton on the roof. Thanks also to Dr ATM Jahiruddin and your family, for giving me a tremendous amount of support in Khulna and at Khulna University. To the many friends I met in Khulna who provided me respite, joy and a great many adventures – Reyad and Pinky, and Martina Gronemeier, Camilia Dewan and Olek Kaminski at the World Fish guesthouse, for our trips to the Sundarbans, patting crocodiles and drinking coconuts. In Dhaka, a big thank you to Dr Julia Ahmed, for your support, love, inspiration and encouragement. Thank you to your family for welcoming me into your home. Thanks also Lata Lutfun, for your friendship, support and guidance throughout this project, and to your family for vi giving me a safe place to stay in Dhaka. I can’t thank you enough. Thanks also to James Sujit, who did an excellent job of translating many of the interviews. To the staff and students at the UQ School of Social Science, in particular the Postgraduate Administration Officers, Ben Byrne, Anne Dighton, Keitha Brown and Caoimhe Cantwell, for your essential work. Thanks to Dr Peter Walters, Dr Lynda Shevellar and Dr Kiah Smith, who each reviewed chapters and provided valuable feedback and guidance. Thanks also to Dr Carol Richards, who encouraged me to take this project to Bangladesh. To the postgrad community in the School of Social Science, for your humour, intelligence and sense of community. I’d like to thank in particular Lata Lutfun, Anne-Marie Snider, PJ Holtum, Andrew Clarke, Laura Cox, Sari Mangru, Gillian Paxton, Amelia Radke and Jenn Rowe. A special thanks to Dr Naomi Smith, one of the most gosh darn intelligent and supportive friends a girl could have. Thanks also to Rebekah Ramsay – your insights and humour, and our days at the State Library, got me through the final months. Thank you to a great many friends who read drafts and provided encouragement, including Ellen Jones, Joanna Horton, Renee Rossini, Mirza Sadaqat Huda, Daniel Chavez, Imogen Holt, the FALB team, the Environment Collective and Fossil Free UQ. To my dear friend, Andrew Eldridge – this project was only possible with your love and support, both in the field and at home. Thank you. To my parents, Sally Miller and Philip MacMahon, and my incomparable siblings, Sophie MacMahon, Ben MacMahon and Campbell MacMahon, for always supporting me unquestioningly. A number of funding sources made this thesis possible. These include the Australian Postgraduate Award, the ‘Governing Food Security in an Era of Climate Change’ ARC Discovery Project, facilitated by Geoff Lawrence and Kiah Smith, and travel and conference funding from the UQ School of Social Science. Thanks also to the UQ School of Social Science for the 2015 Madeleine Taylor Scholarship, which allowed me to make a follow-up trip to Bangladesh in 2016.
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