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- Convenors:
-
Fariya Hashmat
(Lahore School of Economics)
Asad Ghalib (Liverpool Hope University)
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- Chair:
-
Ahmad Nawaz
(Lahore School of Economics)
- Format:
- Panel
- Location:
- Palmer 1.05
- Sessions:
- Friday 30 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
In the global south, the agency of the displaced communities to get a good bargain out of the resettlement process that occurs due to natural disasters is largely being determined by their access to political networks.
Long Abstract:
In the global south, climate change is becoming the primary driver of human displacement. The risk of displacement is a social condition rather than a temporary delimited event that often has long-term structural constraints and implications for the displaced. In this context, the risk factors such as loss of livelihood and income, increased morbidity, destruction of housing and infrastructure, disruption of social capital, among many others, are imposed on the displaced beyond their choice and this, in turn, constrains their agency.
However, displaced communities' access to political networks, amidst heterogeneous societies, is largely being determined by their identities such as gender, ethnicity, caste, creed etc Therefore, those having strong linkages with political representatives are in a better position because they have higher levels of agency to exploit and reap the benefits of rehabilitation measures, despite the fact that they are facing the same risk factors as those with lower levels of agency. For example, in case of recent floods in Pakistan, it has been observed that displaced communities having strong political connections have not only gotten a better bargain but also have resettled in a more sustainable way, contrary to those who have lower access to political networks.
Therefore, this panel, in addition to both quantitative and qualitative studies, also invites case studies from all over the world, which explores the power politic in the whole process of resettlement in terms of getting a better bargain on the part of displaced communities.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 30 June, 2023, -Lalitha M (Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai)
Paper short abstract:
An analysis of urban renewal framed subalterns’ political agency, entangled into intersectional power structures; Making the city work via everyday experiences, political mobilisation and networking. A grounded theory method engaging women and children reveals power nuances.
Paper long abstract:
Chennai and Pondicherry in living memory of poorer coastal groups experienced several major climate-induced crises: 2004 Tsunami, recurrent floods and cyclones. Seasonal monsoons and large infrastructure work like the overhead metro rail on Buckingham Canal have added to differential impacts on poor groups. My ethnographic research since 2019 and being a Dalit political activist, reveals that politics of agency and networks operate intersectionally between gendered hierarchies overlaid with those of caste. The politics of land and representation shape power relationships around different constellations of actors and institutions revealed in meetings with officials from the Slum Clearance Board, Community Development, the MLA a regional politician, all armed with a ‘planned outline’ seeking the public’s consent on reconstruction, while poorer groups formed ‘residents welfare committee’ to negotiate these. Such materialities of climate change are further shaped by how some residents mobilized individual political networks, and those instances when various groups found it important to come together to organise collectively. Exploring these power structures, shaped by caste and gender, the question of how subalterns’ agency is created and subverted links to ideas, points to ideas from Bayat’s quiet encroachment of the ordinary, struggles of uncivil society, Cohelo’s Urban Political ecology, Auerbach’s work on local leaders and association, and finally Kothari and Mitchell among other critiquing ‘participation’. My emerging question helps define the contours of ‘subalternity’, by looking at politics of land, and how groups operate as constellations of interests with fractures and coalitions to mobilize and empower themselves through political and bureaucratic networking.
Emmanuel Vanger (University of Northampton, England, UK) Jacob Gwa (Loughborough University)
Paper short abstract:
In Nigeria, the resettlement process of displaced groups is enmeshed in the culture of "strong men" that connects with delicate institutional dynamics/patronage to appropriate the policy/political space to demonstrate an economy of affection towards familiar networks.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores the nexus of institutional regimes and patronage politics that underpin the resettlement process of forcibly displaced groups occasioned by climate change induced stiff competition for livelihood spaces especially between herders and farmers in Nigeria. Anchored on the theory of New Institutionalism, it argues that the resettlement process of displaced groups is enmeshed in the culture of "strong men" that connects with delicate institutional dynamics and political patronage to appropriate the policy/political space and use same to demonstrate an economy of affection towards familiar networks. Recently there is a politics to alter critical institutions that relate to agrarian livelihoods like the National Water Resources Bill 2020 which seeks to harmonise the Water laws/cede the governance of all water resources and its banks in the jurisdiction of subnational governments in Nigeria to the Federal Government. Similarly, the President expressed interest in using moribund gazettes to (re-)establish cattle routes across Nigeria. These politics is viewed on the surface as identity politics about institutions in the resettlement process in favour of displaced groups with affinity to key state actors in the country without fully reckoning with their climate change underpinnings. In the interaction between the institutions and climate change conflict, their mutual reinforcement is dialectical. We interrogate this interface of climate-related displacements and politics of use of existing institutions and maneouvres to create new ones with qualitative document analysis of materials that bear on the politics of institutions related to climate-change conflicts and resettlement process of displaced persons/groups in Nigeria.
Fariya Hashmat (Lahore School of Economics) Ahmad Nawaz (Lahore School of Economics) Asad Ghalib (Liverpool Hope University)
Paper short abstract:
The paper aims to examine and explore whether social capital is significant or not in mitigating the adverse impact of floods through building resilience among the displaced communities residing in one of the most prone regions hit by climate change - Matiari distrcit, Pakistan.
Paper long abstract:
Pakistan is one of the most flood-prone countries in the world, with recurrent floods affecting millions each year. Approximately, 35 million people have been displaced as well as socially dis-articulated in the wake of recent floods. This is posing a major challenge for the government in re-settling the displaced and providing them with essential support in adapting to new and changed environments. In Pakistan, the province of Sindh, particularly Matiari district, suffered the most because of floods.
Hence, in this context, this underlying study proposes a mixed method inquiry, with Matiari district being the physical area under investigation, owing to its proximity to a major river and thus being prone to continual flooding. The prime objective is to examine and explore whether social resources are significant or not in mitigating the adverse impact of disaster through building resilience among the displaced communities. In this context, for quantitative analysis, a self-administered survey will be conducted with the displaced families. This survey will be based on the Disaster Adaptation and Resilience Scale (DARS). Qualitative data will be collected by administering a number of in-depth, face-to-face interviews with primary and secondary stakeholders. The process of resettlement and reconstruction is not a stand-alone operation and requires a synergized policy framework, designed with the coordination of all stakeholders with the purpose of reconstructing livelihoods in a sustainable way. Therefore, this study, can act as a building block towards formulating a range of policies that will address intersecting crises of climate change and human displacement.