Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the emergence of climate change narratives among government and local government staff in rural Zambia, and how they form part of broader sense- and place-making discourses and practices by local state actors.

Paper long abstract:

As global governance agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement come increasingly to the fore in development, it seems increasingly important to understand how and to what extent such agendas play out in everyday local politics and practices.

This paper examines how the climate change agenda is internalized and appropriated by local state actors in rural Zambia. Drawing on research in two districts in southern Zambia, it first examines the narratives of climate change among staff in the district administration and local government, as well as their origins in NGO projects, central government policies and personal experiences.

The paper then discusses how these climate change narratives fit into and reinforce two dominant discourses about the study districts, namely (i) that they are plagued by vicious circles of poverty and scarcity, and (ii) that they are undeveloped hinterlands which must be opened up and made into a "better place". Climate change and associated interventions thereby contributes to sense-making rationales among government staff, and further a discourse on what "kind" of place the districts are, and what they must become.

Lastly, the paper examines how the climate change narratives are carried over into the actions of local state actors, including practices of assemblage and specific adaptation interventions. It is discussed how these actions often reflect pragmatic approaches to achieving the desired objectives.

The paper draws on the four-year research programme Climate Change and Rural Institutions. A previous paper from the programme was presented at DSA 2015, focusing on institutional competition over authority.