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Paper short abstract:

Sacred beliefs and practices influence indigenous communities in Kenya when they respond to climate-induced conflicts. I will argue that addressing these conflicts effectively requires knowledge about these beliefs and practices which are founded on religion.

Paper long abstract:

My paper will consider the mobilization of indigenous religious beliefs by indigenous communities in Kenya against climate-induced conflicts as religious activism. Climate change is fueling intense conflicts among Maasai, Samburu, Turkana and Pokot communities in Kenya when they clash over dwindling resources or climate change exceeds their adaptive capacities. These communities survive on natural resources such as land, water or cattle, which they consider sacred. And in conflicts that may involve natural resources, conflicting parties can build alliances along religious lines. Yet the dominant climate security and sustainable development discourses concentrate on economic and material aspects that lend themselves to positivist epistemology and quantitative methods. Consequently, they overlook non-economic and non-material factors such as sacred worldviews and values that cannot be measured, quantified, or traded in markets. Yet, they are integral to how some communities understand the world and their place in it. In the communities in question, non-economic factors, such as sacred worldviews and values, may be more significant than economic ones. Based on research I carried out among indigenous communities in Kenya, I will argue that addressing climate security risks holistically and effectively requires knowledge about the affected people's norms, values, beliefs, worldviews, and perspectives, which in some communities are founded on religion.