CFP AAG 2018 New Orleans Challenges and Opportunities for Transformation in Rural Areas: Networks, Agency, and Governance in a Changing Climate In the face of climate change, rural communities are seen as highly vulnerable because of their high dependence on natural resources, and because of their exposure to other ongoing stressors including trade liberalization and environmental degradation (IPCC 2014, O’Brien et al. 2004). Rural areas also account for 70% of the world’s poor people, and ongoing under-investment in agriculture and poor land and resource policies further exacerbate their vulnerability (IPCC 2014) Much research and planning aimed at climate change adaptation is incremental in nature. A growing number of scholars and practitioners are questioning whether such adaptive efforts will be adequate for rural communities to deal with the current and future challenges of climate change (Bassett and Fogelman 2013, Pelling 2011). Transformation is suggested as a way to move from simply understanding environmental challenges to addressing them quickly and effectively (O’Brien 2012). Contrary to the minor, marginal, or incremental changes of adaptation approaches, transformation points to major, fundamental changes (Feola 2015), including radical social, economic, political, and spiritual change. The concept of deliberate transformation underlines the conscious efforts and agency of individuals and groups to enable radical change towards sustainability (O’Brien 2012). Deliberate transformation across a range of rural community characteristics has the potential not only to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, but to enable communities to better prepare for the impacts of climate change. However, regardless of intent, transformational processes are inherently unpredictable. Past projects of social transformation have often originated from sources of colonial power and had damaging consequences for rural societies (Bassett and Fogelman 2013, Parsons and Nalau 2016, Watts 1983). Thus it is important that those engaged in this type of work stay alert to unintended consequences and that transformational work is led and managed by those living in place. Engaging in transformative change requires recognizing power dynamics and the pitfall of “transforming others” as opposed to engaging in a transformative process. With this balance of radical transformation and careful reflection in mind, this session seeks to explore several facets of deliberate transformation in rural communities in both the Global North and the Global South. We welcome papers that address any of the following: · Case-studies of deliberate transformation already occurring in rural communities, including those that led to unforeseen consequences; · Processes through which deliberate transformation is occurring or is being attempted; · The ways in which human networks assist or hinder attempts at deliberate transformation; · The role of key network actors in unleashing a move toward deliberate transformation; · The governmental role in deliberate rural transformation; · The role of democratic decision-making, grassroots activism, or other forms of local organizing in effecting transformation; · The link between individual and collective agency in bringing about transformational change in rural communities.
If you are interested, please send an abstract of maximum 250 words, name and affiliation to Ana Mahecha at amm...@geography.rutgers.edu<mailto:amm...@geography.rutgers.edu> by 11th of October. Organizers will respond within 10 days. The session is sponsored by CAPE. Session organisers: Catherine Day, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison Ana Maria Mahecha, Department of Geography, Rutgers University Irmelin Gram-Hanssen, Department of Human Geography and Sociology, University of Oslo. Milda Jonusaite Nordbø, Department of Human Geography and Sociology, University of Oslo. References: Bassett, T. J., & Fogelman, C. (2013). Déjà vu or something new? The adaptation concept in the climate change literature. Geoforum, 48, 42–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.04.010 Feola, G. (2015). Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: a review of emerging concepts. AMBIO 44(5): 376-390. IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V.R. Barros, D.J. Dokken, K.J. Mach, M.D. Mastrandrea, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi, Y.O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy, S. MacCracken, P.R. Mastrandrea, and L.L. White (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 1132 pp. O’Brien, K. (2012). Global environmental change II: From adaptation to deliberate transformation. Progress in Human Geography, 36(5), 667–676. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132511425767 O'Brien, K., Leichenko, R., Kelkar, U., Venema, H., Aandahl, G., Tompkins, H., et al. (2004). Mapping vulnerability to multiple stressors: climate change and globalization in India. Global Environmental Change, 14, 303–313. Parsons, M. and Nalau, J. (2016). Historical analogies as tools in understanding transformation. Global Environmental Change 38: 82-96. DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.01.010 Pelling, M. (2011). Adaptation to Climate Change: From Resilience to Transformation. New York: Routledge. Watts, M. (1983). Silent Violence: Food, Famine and Peasantry in Northern Nigeria. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
