Everyday adaptation, interrupted agency and beyond: examining the interplay between formal and everyday climate change adaptations

Abstract

Climate change is increasingly widespread and intense. In response, formal adaptation efforts are gaining momentum and financing globally, while those affected address felt changes through a variety of everyday adaptations, the aggregate daily practices articulated in response to ongoing social-ecological change. Our research examined the interplay between formal and everyday adaptations in practice. Specifically, we sought to shed light on the tendency emerging in adaptation literature of what we term interrupted agency, where formal adaptation interventions interrupt everyday adaptation strategies—and agency—of local actors, potentially leading to maladaptation. We did so in North Central Vietnam, where climate change is disrupting lives and livelihoods, and numerous formal and everyday adaptation measures are being implemented in response. We examined three key climate-affected sectors, agriculture, water management, and coastal management, drawing on existing literature as well as interviews and document and policy review. We found that differences in formal and everyday adaptations can indeed lead to interrupted agency yet, in some instances, also support complementarities and even transformative change. Such outcomes required dialogue and pluralistic input to adaptation-related policy, practice, and decision-making, underlining the importance of attention to participation, representation, and influence in decision-making in adaptation efforts. Our exploration of the concepts of everyday adaptation and interrupted agency illustrates that these can valuably contribute to adaptation literature, particularly on the politics of adaptation.

Keywords

• adaptation
• agency
• agriculture
• climate change
• coastal management
• everyday
• governance
• vietnam
• water management