Climate Change

Women, Gender Norms, and Natural Disasters in Bangladesh

Citation:

Juran, Luke, and Jennifer Trivedi. 2015. “Women, Gender Norms, and Natural Disasters in Bangladesh.” Geographical Review 105 (4): 601–11.

Authors: Luke Juran, Jennifer Trivedi

Abstract:

Women and men are impacted differently by natural disasters, leading to claims that there exist gendered disaster vulnerabilities and a “gendered terrain of disasters” (Enarson and Morrow 1998). What makes this contention even more academically and practically relevant are recent increases in the number of natural disasters and affectees (Guha-Sapir and others 2004; Paul 2011). The confluence of gender and disaster is particularly clear in Bangladesh, a country challenging twin specters of gender issues and an array of regularly occurring natural disasters. Bangladesh’s unique geographic situation of extreme population densities overlaid on a low-lying deltaic and coastal landscape interacts with the nation’s range of social and environmental transitions: issues of democracy, government corruption, poverty, rural-urban divides, and gender parity, coupled with problems related to multihazard risk, looming effects of climate change, and issues of environmental justice that predispose certain demographics to heightened levels of risk. Thus, the topic of gender and natural disasters presents a valuable junction for practical and academic exploration,representing a space where these transitions jointly manifest, coexist, and both create and reveal vulnerability.

Topics: Corruption, Democracy / Democratization, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Men, Gendered Power Relations Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Bangladesh

Year: 2015

Women, Climate Change and Environmentally-Induced Conflicts in Africa

Citation:

Jaggernath, Jyoti. 2014. “Women, Climate Change and Environmentally-Induced Conflicts in Africa.” Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity 28 (3): 90–101. 

Author: Jyoti Jaggernath

Abstract:

The literature indicates that there are different types of conflicts that range from disputes / disagreements to outright violence and wars. This Article focuses on the literature regarding environmentally-induced conflicts in Africa. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) reports that Africa is the region of the world that is most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change and this is likely to contribute to a range of conflicts on the continent. The significant gap in the literature on climate change and environmental conflicts induced by climate change is a gendered focus that examines the impacts and implications for women. It is widely accepted that in Africa women (and children) are the most vulnerable groups as a result of persistent poverty, poor institutional and physical infrastructure, poor social services, lower coping and adaptive capacities, and higher reliance on the natural resource base for livelihoods which are sensitive to climate variability. Furthermore, women in Africa are often the primary natural resource users and managers because of gendered productive and reproductive responsibilities which are highly dependent on natural resources. This results in the impacts of climate change being more pronounced and severe for women. Furthermore, women and men experience and respond to environmentally-induced conflicts in different ways. This Article identifies land, water, agricultural and forestry-related environmentally-induced conflicts linked to climate change and examines, using specific illustrative examples, the impacts and implications of environmentally-induced conflicts in Africa for women. Coping and adaptation strategies used by women are also discussed. The Article argues that conflicts in Africa are increasingly induced by environmental stressors and these conflicts have more severe impacts on women. It is therefore important that conflict resolution approaches and climate adaptation strategies are gender-sensitive.

Keywords: women, climate change, environment, conflict, Africa

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Environment, Climate Change, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, Infrastructure, Livelihoods, Violence Regions: Africa

Year: 2014

Evaluating Climate Migration

Citation:

Detraz, Nicole, and Leah Windsor. 2014. “Evaluating Climate Migration.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 16 (1): 127–46. doi:10.1080/14616742.2013.789640.

Authors: Nicole Detraz, Leah Windsor

Abstract:

Climate change will negatively impact human communities and ecosystems, including driving increased food insecurity, increased exposure to disease, loss of livelihood and worsening poverty. Recent climate debates have focused attention on climate migrants, people who are displaced by the ecological stresses caused by climate change. To date, these debates have focused a great deal of attention on state security issues and have left the gender implications largely unexplored. In this article we examine the securitization of climate migration debates through gender lenses. We find that gender helps reveal and focus attention on the human security implications of climate migration and offers a useful discourse for climate policymaking.

Keywords: climate change, climate migration, gender and migration, human security, security

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Migration, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gender Analysis, Livelihoods, Security, Human Security

Year: 2014

Environmental Security and Gender

Citation:

Detraz, Nicole. 2014. Environmental Security and Gender. London: Routledge.

Keywords: environmental conflicts, environmental security, gender discourse, intersectionality

Annotation:

Summary:
Over the past 20 years scholars, policymakers, and the media have increasingly recognized the links between both traditional and non-traditional security issues and the changing condition of the global environment. Concepts such as 'environmental security' and 'resource conflict' have been used to hint at these significant linkages. While there has been a good deal of scholarly work conducted that seeks to identify the ways that actors link these concepts, there has been little examination of the intersection between approaches to environmental security and gender.


This book explores this intersection to provide an insight into the gendered nature of both global environmental politics and security studies. It examines how the issues of security and the environment are linked to theory and practice, and the extent to which gender informs these discussions. By adopting a feminist environmental security discourse, this book provides crucial redefinitions of key concepts and offers new insights into the ways we understand security-environment connections. Case studies evaluate if, and how, environment and security discourses are being used to understand a range of environmental issues, and how a feminist environmental security discourse contributes to our understanding of security-environment connections.


This multidisciplinary volume draws on literature from the environmental sciences, security studies and sociology to highlight the complex human insecurities that often accompany environmental change. As conceptualizations of security continue to shift and broaden to include environmental issues and concerns, it is imperative that gender informs the debate.
 (Summary from Routledge)


Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
    1.    Introduction: where does gender fit in discussions of security and the environment?
    2.    From climate conflict to nuclear winter: security and environment discourses
    3.    A feminist environmental security discourse
    4.    Gender and hydropolitics
    5.    Gender and biodiversity
    6.    Gender and climate change
    7.    Conclusion
Index


Topics: Economies, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Gender Analysis, Gendered Discourses, Infrastructure, Energy, Water & Sanitation

Year: 2014

Linking Gender, Climate Change, Adaptive Capacity, and Forest-Based Communities in Canada

Citation:

Reed, Maureen G., Alyssa Scott, David Natcher, and Mark Johnston. 2014. “Linking Gender, Climate Change, Adaptive Capacity, and Forest-Based Communities in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Forest Research 44 (9): 995–1004.

Authors: Maureen G Reed, Alyssa Scott, David Natcher, Mark Johnston

Abstract:

Analyses of climate change and the forest sector have identified the importance of individual actors, institutions, and organizations within communities for effective adaption and climate mitigation. Yet, there remains little recognition of how the internal dynamics of these institutions and organizations are influenced by gender and other social considerations such as age and culture. Research from developing countries and cognate resource sectors suggests that these considerations are critical for enhancing local adaptive capacity. Despite extensive review of forestry research across North America and western Europe, we found almost no research that addresses how differential social capabilities within forest-based communities affect adaptation to climate change. In this paper, we document the potential that gender sensitivity might provide to conceptions and practical applications of adaptive capacity and identify four types of research opportunities to address this gap: (i) developing disaggregated capitals frameworks; (ii) creating inclusive models; (iii) informing social planning; and (iv) understanding gender mainstreaming. Research focused on these opportunities, among others, will provide more robust theoretical understanding of adaptive capacity and strategic interventions necessary for effective adaptation.

Keywords: adaptive capacity, Gender, forest-based communities, climate change, Canada

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Extractive Industries, Gender, Gender Analysis, Gender Mainstreaming Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Canada

Year: 2014

Gender Water Networks: Femininity and Masculinity in Water Politics in Bolivia

Citation:

Laurie, Nina. 2011. “Gender Water Networks: Femininity and Masculinity in Water Politics in Bolivia.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 35 (1): 172–88. 

Author: Nina Laurie

Abstract:

This article explores how transnational networking around neoliberal water policies intersects with drives to mainstream gender. It examines how understandings of gender are constructed through water conflicts and demonstrates how complex contemporary gendered water experiences are reflected in a variety of networks operating at and across different scales. It challenges essentialist accounts of gender within policy debates, demonstrating how gendered subjectivities are produced, reproduced and disrupted through hybrid networks of struggle. It shows how these subjectivities enter the global arena through the anti-globalization movement. The article suggests that some transnational water networks become hybrid spaces that draw in both those who support and contest neoliberal agendas and argues that contemporary analyses of water must be understood in this context of intersection. It draws on the example of Bolivian water politics to highlight how gender intersects with ethnicity, notions of appropriate femininity and constructions of heroic masculinities. It illustrates how women's activities are circumscribed by understandings of the supermadre and explores how this femininity has become powerful in representational terms. Finally, the article examines the disciplining role of sexuality in producing femininities and understandings of heroic masculinity in national and transnational settings, including the water ministry and wider contemporary Bolivian politics. 

 

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies, Globalization, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Political Participation Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Bolivia

Year: 2011

Through the Debris and Dryness in Liberia

Citation:

Enie, Rosemary Olive Mbone. 2009. “Through the Debris and Dryness in Liberia.” Women in Action (2): 16-20. 

Author: Rosemary Olive Mbone Enie

Abstract:

The article discusses the difficulties faced by women in Liberia brought about by climate change while still recovering from the civil wars. In Liberia, women are responsible for food production, water collection for drinking, sanitation and other household chores. Schools and water services were also affected by the civil wars, making it hard for children and women to resettle. The Society for Women Empowerment Education and Training (SWEET) Africa Foundation helps Liberian communities to ensure access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation. (Abstract from EBSCOhost).This article utilizes the story of Mama Jenneh Sambola, a farmer from the rural Than Mafa Village of the Matamo Community in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia to examine the present challenges facing the community regarding climate change. The Liberian civil wars destroyed basic infrastructure and common diseases are still prevalent. The Society for Women Empowerment Education and Training (SWEET) Africa Foundation works closely with Mama Jenneh and her community to ensure access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation. They later developed a community-based development agency with the goal of providing a platform for people-centered development, allowing for the community to take ownership of sustainable development initiatives with a strong emphasis on water projects. 

Annotation:

This article utilizes the story of Mama Jenneh Sambola, a farmer from the rural Than Mafa Village of the Matamo Community in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia to examine the present challenges facing the community regarding climate change. The Liberian civil wars destroyed basic infrastructure and common diseases are still prevalent. The Society for Women Empowerment Education and Training (SWEET) Africa Foundation works closely with Mama Jenneh and her community to ensure access to clean and safe water and adequate sanitation. They later developed a community-based development agency with the goal of providing a platform for people-centered development, allowing for the community to take ownership of sustainable development initiatives with a strong emphasis on water projects.

 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Development, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Femininity/ies, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, NGOs, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2009

Gender, Political Ideology, and Climate Change Beliefs in an Extractive Industry Community

Citation:

Davidson, Debra J., and Michael Haan. 2012. “Gender, Political Ideology, and Climate Change Beliefs in an Extractive Industry Community.” Population and Environment 34 (2): 217–34.

Authors: Debra J. Davidson, Michael Haan

Abstract:

This paper presents results from a survey on attitudes toward climate change in Alberta, Canada, home to just 10% of Canada's population, but the source of 35% of the country's greenhouse-gas emissions (Environment Canada 2011). Results show high levels of awareness, but much lower levels of perceived climate change impacts for one's self or region. Women expressed significantly greater awareness and sense of perceived impacts about climate change than men; however, gender differences appear predominantly associated with socioeconomic factors. Indeed, in all, political ideology had the strongest predictive value, with individuals voting for the conservative party significantly less likely to anticipate significant societal climate change impacts. This finding, in turn, is strongly associated with beliefs regarding whether climate change is human induced. Particularly notable is the finding that the gender gap in climate change beliefs and perceived impacts is not attributed to gendered social roles, as indicated by occupational and familial status. Instead, gender distinctions appear to be related to the lower tendency for women to ascribe to a conservative political ideology relative to men.

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gender Roles, Governance, Elections, Political Participation Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Canada

Year: 2012

Gender Disparities in Water Resource Management Projects in Njoro Sub-County, Kenya

Citation:

Wambu, Charles K., and Moses Kindiki. 2015. “Gender Disparities in Water Resource Management Projects in Njoro Sub-County, Kenya.” International Journal of Social Science Studies 3 (2): 123–29. doi: 10.11114/ijsss.v3i2.703.

Authors: Charles K. Wambu, Moses Kindiki

Abstract:

Gender disparities are of major concern, in water resources management because men and women play different roles and have different rights on water usage and it is important to take in account the interest of both genders into account. Njoro Sub-county is currently facing a serious problem of water scarcity as a result of several factors such as poor management, loss of forest cover, climatic variability, population increase, and limited endowment of the resource. Water being an economic good and a cost attached to its development, distribution, operation and maintenance there has been gender disparity in its management. Women are responsible for multiple uses of water resources and principal decision-makers regarding domestic uses and sharing responsibility with men for productive uses. However men often control this resource and make major decisions related to location and type of facilities available hence the need to investigate why women despite their vital stake in water affairs, they are frequently overlooked and under-represented in water policy decisions and in water projects committees. The argument in this paper is that gender disparities may have resulted in overexploitation and mismanagement of water resources. 

Keywords: gender disparities, water resource management, Gender, equity

Annotation:

This paper analyzes the gendered factors to the planning and implementation of water resource projects and analyzed gender contribution in co-ordination and operation of water resource projects. The study paid specific attention to water management at the household level in the Njoro-Sub county of Kenya. While the women in the community played the largest role in household water collection and usage, men had the most say over water rights and distribution. The study found that most women in the community were barred from the water management and planning process due to cultural customs and traditional gender roles. Sustainable water management projects were not attained, leading to household water shortages that place greater burdens on women. The study concludes with recommendations on including women in water projects due to their extensive knowledge of water resources, along with incorporating women’s rights initiatives that respect the traditional expectations of the community. 

Topics: Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gender Roles, Gendered Discourses, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2015

Gender in Inter-State Water Conflicts

Citation:

Von Lossow, Tobias. 2015. “Gender in Inter-State Water Conflicts.” Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 27 (2): 196–201. 

Author: Tobias Von Lossow

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Analysis, Femininity/ies, Gender Mainstreaming, Humanitarian Assistance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation

Year: 2015

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