the role of literacy in pro poor climate change adaptation
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
1/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
The role of literacy in
pro-poor climate changeadaptation practicesAn analytical framework
STUDENT REGISTRATION NUMBER 4970314
A dissertation submitted to the School of International Development of the
University of East Anglia in Part-fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree
of Master of Arts in Education and Development
September 2011
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
2/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
WORD COUNT 11.979
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
3/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
Contents
List of Figures and Tables ................................................................................................................... i
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................. iii
Chapter 1: Introduction...................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Research question................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Value of the research .............................................................................................................. 2
1.3 Methodology and outline of the research............................................................................. 2
Chapter 2: Literacy and Literacies, an overview of definitions and theoretical frameworks 4
2.1 Literacy, great divide and benefits ........................................................................................ 4
2.2 The New Literacy Study.......................................................................................................... 5
2.3 Situated perspectives on literacy........................................................................................... 6
2.3.a Material dimension of literacy ......................................................................................... 7
2.3.b Textually mediated access to choices and literacy sponsors and mediators.......... 7
2.3.c Agency and participation in the political space ............................................................ 8
2.3.d Re-contextualization, local and global dimensions ..................................................... 9
2.4 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 10
Chapter 3: Adaptation, Vulnerability and Development .............................................................. 11
3.1 The adaptation framework.................................................................................................... 11
3.1.a Climate variability and change (Box1)......................................................................... 12
3.1.b Vulnerability to climate change (Box 2) ....................................................................... 12
3. 1.c Adaptation practices (Box 3)........................................................................................ 13
3.1.d The role of institutions (Box 4) ...................................................................................... 15
3.1.e Socio-economic resources/assets (Box 5) ................................................................. 15
3.1.f External resources (Box 6)............................................................................................. 16
3.2 Vulnerability, Development and Resilience ....................................................................... 16
3.2.a The Vulnerability Development Continuum ................................................................ 16
3.2.b Resilience ........................................................................................................................ 17
3.3 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 17
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
4/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
Chapter 4: The literacy-adaptation analytical framework .......................................................... 18
4 .1 Which options are available to chronic poor? .................................................................. 18
4.1. a Definition of chronic poverty ........................................................................................ 18
4.1. b Adaptation Practices and poverty categories............................................................ 19
4.2 What role for literacy in these adaptive options?.............................................................. 22
4.2.a Livelihoods and market exchange .............................................................................. 22
4.2.b Power relations and decision making over uses of assets ...................................... 23
4.2.c Networks and public policy driven adaptation ............................................................ 24
4.2 d Material intervention oriented adaptation practices................................................... 24
4.2. e Institutional modification oriented adaptation practices........................................... 25
4.3 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 26
Chapter 5 Urban poverty, literacy and climate change in Bangladesh, a case study .............. 27
5.1 Chronic poor adaptation to climate change in urban centers ......................................... 27
5.3 Chronic Poor adaptation in Bangladesh urban areas ...................................................... 27
5.3.a Urban chronic poor and exposure to climate variability in Bangladesh ................ 27
5.3.b Urban Chronic poor and literacy in Bangladesh urban centers, what is to bemeasured?................................................................................................................................. 28
5.4.a Literacy, years of schooling and adaptation practices in urban environments ..... 30
5.5 Testing of the literacy-adaptation tool and conclusions ................................................. 32
Chapter 6 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 34
List of References .............................................................................................................................. 36
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
5/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
i
List of Figures and Tables
FIGURE 1 ADAPTATION PRACTICES FRAMEWORK .............................................................................................. 11
FIGURE 2 MAPPING ADAPTIVE CAPACITY THROUGH SOCIAL CAPITAL ........................................................... .... 15
FIGURE 3 THE CHRONIC POOR, TRANSIENT POOR A NON POOR - A CATEGORIZATION ..................................... 18
FIGURE 4 WORSENING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS IN URBAN LOCATIONS ....................................... 29
TABLE 1 ADAPTATION PRACTICES PER POVERTY CATEGORY .............................................................................. 20
TABLE 2 LITERACY-ADAPTATION ANALYTICAL TOOL .......................................................... ................................. 21
TABLE 3 PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS AGE 6+ BY LITERACY AND EDUCATION ....... 30
TABLE 4 PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION YEARS OF SCHOOLING .............................................................. ............... 32
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
6/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
ii
Abstract
Climate change is already forcing communities in developing countries to adapt to new,
unexpected circumstances, driving those who dont have sufficient coping capacity towards
a status of ineluctable vulnerability.
The objective of this dissertation is to explore how literacy can influence chronic poors
adaptation practices. Firstly, I looked at how literacy and climate change adaptation are
theoretically understood, laying the basis to develop a literacy-adaptation analytical tool
that comprehends the main nexuses between the two topics. Then I have tested the
relevance of the tool applying its findings to a case study utilizing secondary data relative to
Bangladesh slum dwellers.
The results have shown that literacy has tangible influences over people ability to perform
adaptation practices, which can have a relevant impact on chronic poor. In particular literacy
exercises influence over a wide range of identified adaptation categories: livelihoods
diversification, access to market exchange, benefits from social protection measures,
governance modification and transformation of gender inequalities. These findings also
inform an important policy recommendation: literacy has to be promoted within a framework
of lifelong learning education rather than only through a narrow focus on primary education.
The evidence of the wideness of the adaptation categories that can be positively influenced
by various literacy practices and the marked pro-poor vocation of these solutions, confirm
the initial hypothesis: the promotion of literacy can be an effective no regrets tool for the
reduction of chronic poor vulnerability to climate change.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
7/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
iii
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Bryan Maddox, for his support,
guidance, time and patience; without the very inspiring conversations with him this work
would not have been possible.
I also would like to thank both Sheila Aikman and Bryan Maddox for making my learning
experience during the Master always challenging and never banal.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
8/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
iv
There is so much inequality inscribed in the
production of this book. The main inequality is in the
result: voice. I can produce a globalized voice, they
cant; I can produce a prestige genre, they cant;
I can speak from within a recognizable position and
identity, they cant.
Grassroots Literacy
Jan Blommaert
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
9/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
At first sight it is quite easy to see what literacy and the effects of climate change have in
common. They are both characterized by inequalities in their distribution and they are both
areas of concern when we talk about chronic poverty.
The impacts of climate change and climate variability are already felt on the ground. There
are evidences (Smit et al., 2001) that these impacts are distributed unevenly among the
world population and it is generally believed that the poorest are the most affected by these
changes. The widespread concern is that climate change effects, if not managed properly
and promptly, will hinder pathways out of poverty (DFID, 2005). Moreover, climate changeis believed to worsen the already existing social inequalities, driving those with scarce
adaptive capacity into deeper vulnerability (Polack, 2008).
On the other hand also literacy is still an unsolved issue. In 2004 the 17% of the world adult
population, around 770 million people, was considered to be illiterate, and women living in
developing countries representi two thirds of this number (UNESCO, 2011:65).
Within this scenario, the mainstream literature on climate change and disaster risk reduction
widely recognizes that a lack of education is a determinant of vulnerability to climate
hazards (IPCC, 2001; UNISDR, 2004). However, despite the fact that low literacy levels
are very often used as proxy of education and an indicator of vulnerability, very rarely the
promotion of literacy is utilized as a tool to improve peoples ability to cope with change.
Nonetheless, chronic poor are already adapting to climate variations and, presumably, will
have to cope with these changes even more in the future. Are their adaptation strategies
influenced by their command over certain literacy practices?
1.1 Research questionWhat role does literacy play in shaping peoples adaptation practices in contexts of chronic
poverty?
- Which theoretical notions can help us exploring the nexuses between literacy,
adaptation practices and chronic poverty?
- Are there any theoretical evidences that the promotion of literacy could be an
effective no-regrets adaptation strategy?
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
10/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
2
1.2 Value of the research
This dissertation is grounded on the suggestion made by Tanner and Mitchell (2008) that
climate change can be considered as an opportunity for the poorest to develop ways out of
poverty, advocating for the promotion of pro-poor adaptation measures (ibid.). As they
demonstrate, the climate change discourse provides valid ideological standpoints for the
development of a poverty-centered adaptation approach. On one side, there is the
instrumental effectiveness driver approach utilized by many donors and the World Bank.
Utilizing economic analysis it demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of adaptation in order to
protect investments on development. On the other side, there is the equity and justice
approach (Paavola and Adger, 2006) that considers the investment in adaptation policies as
a moral necessity of richer, highly polluting countries towards the poorer countries, less
responsible and most affected by climate change. Hence they recommend that, if we want
to develop appropriate pro-poor policies, making adaptation effective for the chronically
poor, we will have to go beyond analysis at the broad community level and investigate
how the multidimensional aspects of deprivation are influencing the chronically poor
adaptation practices (Tanner and Mitchell, 2008:12). Can we consider literacy as one of the
multiple deprivations affecting the chronic poor? And, if yes, how this deprivation affects
their adaptation capacity?
The no-regrets approach theorizes that, as the scenario of the change is mainly uncertain
at the moment, it is important to promote adaptation measures that are beneficial, no matterhow or if the predicted climate change impacts materialize (Heltbert et al., 2009). The
objective of this dissertation is to provide the theoretical foundations to the argument that
the promotion of literacy, in a context of lifelong learning education (Torres, 2003),
represents an effective no-regret strategy to improve chronic poor adaptation practices.
1.3 Methodology and outline of the research
The objective of this dissertation is to analyze, from a theoretical point of view, the possible
interactions between literacy and climate change adaptation in contexts of chronic poverty. I
therefore merged significant elements of the two theoretical frameworks, proposing a tool of
analysis that can encourage researchers and policy makers to consider the implications of
the nexuses pinpointed. The analysis is supplemented by the recognition that chronic
poverty, intended as a multidimensional deprivation status, has to be considered and
analyzed in its specificity.
In order to do so, in Chapter 2 I reviewed the relevant literature on literacy; and then, in
Chapter 3, I have explored which factors are believed to shape adaptation practices
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
11/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
3
according to the climate change relevant literature. The merging of the two frameworks and
the subsequent development of a literacy-adaptation tool of analysis has been explained in
the fourth chapter. In the fifth chapter I supported my analysis with a case study located in
urban Bangladesh. This study tests the relevance of the nexuses outlined in the literacy-
adaptation tool of analysis, but also raises questions about the appropriateness of literacymeasurements.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
12/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
4
Chapter 2: Literacy and Literacies, an overview ofdefinitions and theoretical frameworks
Definitions of literacy are not innocent (Barlett, 2008)
In this section I will review the main academic literature about literacy, trying to expose
different notions and understanding of literacy, in the context of development. Besides using
an historical perspective, I will linger over the concepts that will be used in the following
chapter to explore the interactions between literacy and adaptation practices. This chapter
is therefore not intended to be an exhaustive literature review, but rather to lay the
theoretical foundations for the following analysis.
2.1 Literacy, great divide and benefits
In the 1960s many authors focus their research on the theme of oral cultures versus literate
cultures. Themost famous are Goody with his Literacy in traditional societies (1968) and
The Guthemberg Galaxy (1962) by McLuhan. This current has been called Great Divide
because it promoted the idea of profound differences between oral and literate societies,
mainly attributing higher cognitiveskills to literate societies. This dichotomy reflected other
dichotomies that were at centre of some cultural movements of that time (primitive versus
civilized or myth versus science) (Brand and Clinton, 2002). These theorists tended to
conceptualize literacy as skill learned through a gradual and linear process of personal,
cognitive and economic growth and development. Within this frame, any personal gain
would have reflected positively on the overall society. This conception of literacy has been
later on labeled as autonomous model of literacy, as it would consider literacy as an
independent variable capable to trigger positive benefits (Street, 1984: 2).
During the same years the idea of human capital started imposing itself in the development
scene. Authors like Shultz (1961) argued that for individual educational gains are stocked in
the human capital, this capital enables people to gain income, as it was an interest on the
stocked goods. The same mechanism is believed to have beneficial effects on the society
where the individuals live. Different types of rate of returns are produced by different types
of investments in education in different kind of contexts. For instance, Psacharopoulos and
Patrinos (2004) suggests that classical patterns of human capital studies are: there is a
negative relation between returns to investment and the level of development of the countrywhere the investment is made; secondary education guarantees more personal returns than
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
13/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
5
social returns; investment in basic education for women in developing countries is the one
guaranteeing higher returns (Shultz, 2002). Also in this case education is considered as an
independent variable. This kind of instrumentalist approaches (Unterhalter, 2007) have
created strong narratives about the benefits associated to education and literacy and about
the linear, positivistic development discourse behind this relation.
Both the autonomous model of literacy and the human capital theory have been widely
criticized (Street, 1984, Little, 2003; Robeyns, 2006); however they are considered to be still
highly influential in informing the mainstream development discourse. To quote some of
the most significant and recent critics, the 2006 edition of the UNESCO Global Monitoring
Report Literacy for Life (2005) has received harsh criticism just because of its economistic
paradigm of development (Robison-Pant, 2008). Anna Robison-Pant (ibid.) reports that
while working at the background papers of the Unesco Global Monitoring Report (2005), her
major challenge was to problematize the whole concept of benefits within a policy context
which was framed by the notion of literacy (and education) as a common undisputed good.
Lesley Barlett (2008) also underlines how, even though in one chapter the complexity of the
notion of literacy is recognized, the whole document speaks in fulsome prose about the
political, economic, social, and cultural benefits of literacy.
2.2 The New Literacy Study
The New Literacy Study (NLS) is a school of thought that includes those thinkers that, in
reaction to the Great Divide, developed the theory of literacy as a social practice. This
reaction can be seen as a part of the poststructuralist (Deridda, Focault) reaction to the
structuralism of the Great Divide. The most eminent representative of the NLS school is
Brian Street, who in 1984 denounced the ethnocentrism of the autonomous model of
literacy, proposing a more culturally sensitive ideological model. According to Street literacy
cannot be extrapolated from the social contest where it operates. It is not literacy as an
isolated power that shapes societies, on the opposite literacy practices are shaped by the
power relations and ideologies already present within the societies. Because this approach
generates from an ethnographic perspective on literacy, then the first aspect that is
underlined is the multiple and contextual nature of literacies (Collins, 1995). The
ethnographer rather than looking at literacy as a deficitor a needof a society, will try to
discover which literacy practices people are already engaged in (Street, 2001: 1), many
people labeled illiterate by the users of an autonomous model of literacy might be
discovered to use different and significant literacy skills (Doronilla, 1996). The division
between oral expression and literacy therefore disappears in front of the eyes of theethnographer. One key concept generated by the NLS, in accordance with poststructuralist
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
14/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
6
views on the society organization, is that literacy often functions as a hegemonic power over
societies, and its used to exercise and maintain control (Collins, 1995). That why Street
talks about the ideological model of literacy as opposite to the autonomous one, as a
neutral literacy cannot exist since ideology, power relations and contestation are
organically embedded within the literacy practices.
Two of the key concepts of the NLS that are more pertinent to our analysis are the notions
of literacy eventsand of literacy practices. Shirley Brice Heath describes a literacy event
as any occasion in which a piece of writing is integral to the nature of the participants
interactions and their interpretative processes (Heath, 1983:50). Brian Street instead
describes literacy practices (Street, 1984:1) as a way of focusing on the social practices
and conceptions of reading and writing.
This approach has tremendously enriched the literacy debate, providing many new insights
to literacy practices. One inestimable result is that it has informed and empowered the
authority of ethnographic research in the field of literacy. As we will see in Chapter 4, the
ethnographic investigations on literacy are particularly important within this dissertation as
they provide evidences of how literacy practices shape daily life performances in terms of
livelihoods, social networks and participation in the public sphere.
2.3 Situated perspectives on literacy
Even if the contextual nature of literacy that is promoted by the NLS will be at the core of
this research, however in order to analyze the role of literacy practices in climate change
adaptation I will need analytical tools to expand beyond the context. Some authors have
demonstrated that is possible to explore the consequences and utility of literacy as a
technology, and its role in progressive forms of social change (Maddox, 2007) without
slipping into an autonomous model conception of literacy. This perspective is crucial within
my analysis as, as shown in Chapter 3, individuals and households adaptation practices
are influenced by many factors: external global dynamics; national, regional and local
institutions and issues of governance and agency.
As Brandt and Clinton (2002: 338) suggest, the NLS has created its own, tacit great
divideone that assumes separation between the local and the global, agency and social
structure, and literacy and its technology. Therefore within this new dichotomy some
aspects of literacy, like its technology, its materiality or thing status (ibid.) and the relation
between local and global or wider contexts (Collins and Blot, 2003), became taboo. Thisrigid and partial vision on literacy has been criticized by scholars that, still building on an
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
15/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
7
ethnographic approach to the literacy research, claim as crucial the recognition of adding a
very important dimension to the localism described by NLS, which is the agency of people
in shaping and make use of literacy (Barton and Hamilton, 1998). Within this approach a
particular attention is given to the modalities in which literacy is used to mediate interactions
between people, suggesting that literacy is inherently useful in processes of socialorganization and life management (Maddox, 2007).
2.3.a Material dimension of literacy
small everyday texts like lists, reports and online chats help construct the infrastructure thatshapes our lives (Kell, 2011:613)
Where do we start our analysis of the role of literacy in adaptation practices? Brandt and
Clinton (2002) suggest, drawing on Latour, that text has a materiality, a thingness, thattranscends the local and that has to be the focus of literacy studies. Literacy in these terms
has trans-contextualized and trans-contextualizing potentials, in other we shall look at the
ability of texts to travel, integrate and endure and to create meaning across contexts. The
reality of texts as mediators of daily practices will be therefore one of the pillars of my
analysis (see the analytical tool in Chapter 4).
2.3.b Textually mediated access to choices and literacy sponsors and mediators
Is important to understand that often when literacy, or a specific literacy practice, is not
available at individual level other resources are mobilized in order to make things happen
(Kell, 2008). Fingeret (1983) argues that literacy practices are performed within social
networks, taking the shape of an exchange of resources: literacy mediators will offer their
service to have something in exchange. However these exchanges involve power relations
and can be empowering or disempowering. Brand and Clinton (2002) use the term literacy
sponsors to refer to those institutions and people that make the learning and the use of
literacy practices possible, for example the government, religious institutions, office workersand so on. These people or institutions detain the power to let other people access to
information and often represent interests that differ from the ones of the client they serve.
Literacy mediation is a crucial concept within this dissertation as it is a characteristic of the
textually mediated relationships between institutions and individuals or households; having
full control over these processes might make the difference between a successful
adaptation practice and a unsuccessful one. In addition to that, one characteristic of the
chronic poor is indeed their limited citizenship (CPRC, 2008) it is however possible to
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
16/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
8
assume that they might be particularly exposed to abuses in their relationships with the
institutions, therefore the dynamics that regulate these encounters are very crucial.
One example of literacy mediation present in the ethnographic research of Kathrin Jones
(2000) sums up the relationship between the focus on the material dimension of text andthe role of mediation needed to perform specific literacy practices that are informed by a
global agenda. She looks at rural Welsh families and their literacy encounters with the
farming bureaucracy. At the centre of the analysis there is the text (the form to be filled by
the farmer), as a material piece of evidence of a global bureaucratic agenda (the European
Union policies), imposed on the local context with the consequence of producing
disembedded local relations. If these texts are obviously disempowering, on the other hand
people are capable of re-contextualizing these external influences, through their agency,
bureaucracy mediators (government officers) play a crucial role in shaping these
processes. As Liezl Malan (1996) puts it literacy mediators intervene between local and
dominant discourses and their agency is invested with varying degrees of social power.
In these, and other similar studies (Kell, 1996; Malan, 1996; Collins & Blot, 2003) we see
how three very important elements interact: the text itself, the access to opportunities that
are mediated by texts, the role of mediators within this process. Katherine Kell (2008),
through a meticulous research of the uses of text within development interventions, invites
to re-conceptualize mediation across larger social units. She shows how agency is
inexorably linked with the transferability of texts and the availability of proper mediation.
However, not always mediators play a positive role. Within the discourse of literacy and
inequalities, some studies explore the role of texts, mediators and the exercise of state
power. Barlett et al (2011) show how material texts (legal documents) are interpreted
differently by the state officers according to the gender, the perceived ethnicity and the
social capital of the holders; her analysis shows how literacy practices are not liberation per
se, on the contrary agents of the state use them as a mean of exploitation.
2.3.c Agency and participation in the political space
As will be illustrated in Chapter 3, a wide participation of the people into public decision
making is regarded as crucial for the reduction of the vulnerability to climate change and
variability. Furthermore, household or community level inequalities are considered to be
underlying causes of vulnerability (Mc Gray et al, 2007). I argue, utilizing the ethnographic
observations in this field, that the relation between peoples literacy practices, their agency
and their interaction within the public sphere has to be explored. Even if this relation is not
linear (as we have just seen in Barlett et al. account), certain literacy practices within certain
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
17/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
9
contexts reveal to be transformative. One of the examples might be the women use of
literacy and numeracy to manage home accounting, as described by Maddox (2001, 2005)
that can represent a concrete threat to patriarchy, even though it might not be sufficient per
seto radically transform power relations.
Paulo Freire (1970) has been the main advocate of the idea of literacy as a tool for social
transformation. His work has inspired generations of educators that utilize critical pedagogy
to engage students to learn literacy through the acquisition of consciousness about their
status and the power relations that regulate their lives. These notions have been utilized in
different interventions involving grassroots organization that in certain cases have produced
very powerful literacy practices for the participation in the public space Doronila and Cueva
Sipin (2005); but have been also criticized for having questionable political results, mainly
due to the inadequate preparation of the teachers (Barlett, 2008).
2.3.d Re-contextualization, local and global dimensions
As we have seen above the ethnographic research help understanding that part of the
global influences take the shape of texts when they land into local contexts. Brandt and
Clinton (2002) talk about globalizing connect, they describe it as a local literacy practice
that has far reaching implications and uses outside the local context (Reder and Davila,
2005). The issue of globalization is relevant to the analysis of the role of literacy in
adaptation practices for two main reasons. The first one is that climate change is per sea
global phenomenon, not only because it happens globally but, especially, because it
involves global actors and agendas. Therefore what is happening, and will happen more in
the future is that policy driven adaptation practices will probably be internationally
determined and then will land locally shaped into texts (policies, laws, but also forms to be
filled or notes that announce relocations). The second one is that chronic poor are more and
more exposed to a double exposure (OBrien and Leichenko, 2000), the vulnerability to
climate change is often accompanied by the negative impacts of economic globalization.Global contexts are becoming so important into peoples lives that we have to ask: which
are the implication for literacy?
Bloomaert (2004, 2008) demonstrates how texts which might be functional within a context,
lose meaning and function when moved across context, specifically looking form a north-
south perspective. According to him, this dynamic reflects the unequal power relations
across contexts. In other words, a text written in what is, in a hegemonic way, considered to
be a periphery, when transferred in the so-called centre it will be regarded as inferior, rather
than different. This because of the hegemonic evaluative rules utilized in the centre. In this
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
18/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
10
framework peripheral voices, unless they conform with the global literacies rules, are
disqualified from being heard. Bloomaert analysis gives us the tools to analyze the global
literacy inequalities. Kell (2005, 2008, 2011), instead, looks at recontextualization but at a
micro level. Her ethnographic research reveals that the shift across context of material texts
does not always produce a loss of meaning; however her work confirms the importance oflooking at the trajectories of the material texts in order to understand how meaning,
identities, power relations and literacy interact.
2.4 Conclusions
In this chapter I have tried to illustrate the richness of the understandings of literacy in the
academic literature, but also I have tried to outline which of these concepts will guide my
analysis. The core concept that will inform this dissertation is that literacy is far more than a
skill or a technology; it is instead a social practice that can powerfully shape the outcome of
other social practices. Trying to avoid to present literacy as an autonomousentity, I will
nevertheless attempt to pinpoint its potential value in shaping adaptation processes. In
order to do that, my investigation will be strongly informed by the concept of literacy
practices, by the centrality of the materiality of texts, by the concept of literacy mediation
and by the nexuses between literacy and global inequalities.
.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
19/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
11
Chapter 3: Adaptation, Vulnerability and Development
Very often literacy rates or investments in education (Brooks et al, 2005) are utilized, in the
framework of the climate change discourse (Chapter 1), as proxy for social or contextual
vulnerability within a community. Which concepts of the climate change adaptation might
help us framing our understanding of the role of literacy in adaptation practices?
3.1 The adaptation framework
The starting point of my analysis is that is crucial to understand what people are already
doing to adapt to climate change and variability in order to plan appropriate interventions
and promote enabling environments (Agrawal 2010, Roy et al, 2011). This particular
perspective pays appropriate attention to peoples agency within this process, recognizing
their preferences and innovative role in proposing adaptation practices (Roy et al, 2011).
Furthermore, it does concentrate on peoples capacity rather than their vulnerability (Twigg
2010.
My analysis will be based on the flowing adaptation framework (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Adaptation practices framework
Source: adaptation from Argawal (2010) and Roy et al. (2011)
Box 6
ExternalResources
Box 4
Institutions
Box 3
Adaptation practices
Box 2
Physical andsocialvulnerability
to climatechange andvariability
Box 1
Climate changeand variability
Box 5
Socio economicresources/assets
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
20/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
12
As my analysis will show in Chapter 4, literacy, as a individuals, households or
communities resource (box 5, Figure 1), does not have only an influence in shaping
peoples adaptation practices, but it also shapes peoples relations with the institutions (box
4, Figure 1) and their relations with the external resources (box 6, figure 1). We will
therefore acknowledge the significance of the processes related to climate variability andchange and the vulnerabilities associated to it (box 1 and 2, Figure 1), but we will
concentrate our analysis on the adaptation practices and the institutions, looking at how this
choices are taken and performed according to the socio-economic assets (boxes 3, 4, 5,
Figure 1).
3.1.a Climate variability and change (Box1)
The international scientific community agrees on the fact that climate is changing, the
warming of the globe is considered to be a fact (IPCC, 2007). However climate predictions
are also characterized by a significant degree of uncertainty (Ensor and Berger, 2009),
while climate models can predict with a certain confidence the raising of the global
temperatures, they are still incapable of giving us more detailed information. Many
researchers have shown how local communities have already a strong perception of
anomalies in the weather (ibid.). Given our attention to peoples adaptation practices we will
focus more on the effects of the anomalies in the climate variability in the medium and short
term, rather than on the long terms effects of climate change. This because the latter are
not only not yet fully predictable; but also relatively comprehensible and relevant to peoples
lives.
3.1.b Vulnerability to climate change (Box 2)
The concept of vulnerability to climate change has been theorized in different ways. There
are two main, somehow conflicting, conceptions: outcome vulnerability and the contextual
one (Adger, 2006; Brooks, 2003; OBrien 2007; Kelly, 2000).
Some authors, whose views are rooted in the positivistic science and environmental
economics (OBrien et al., 2007) theorize vulnerability as the result of the exposure of a
certain community or area to a certain hazard. This approach, that can be labeled outcome
vulnerability, has its main focus in quantifying the losses related to climate change and it
has a scarce consideration of the influence of social issues in the framework of climate
change. This vision tends to inform technical adaptation solutions, for instance in the
provision of weather forecasting information (Tanner and Mitchell, 2008) and, in the field of
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
21/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
13
education stressing the need for awareness rising trainings or the inclusion of climate
change knowledge in school curricula (IPCC, 2001; UNISDR, 2004).
The second and most relevant to us, approach is the so called contextual vulnerability, also
called starting point vulnerability (Ensor and Berger, 2009). Within this vision vulnerability is
the state of a given community or area that makes it exposed to climate hazards (Brooks,
2003; Wisner, 2004). This state does exist independently from the hazard and, being
related to socio-economic conditions present in a society, is mutable in the time and often it
is not distributed evenly. Within this vision, changes in climate are considered to occur in
the context of political, institutional, economic and social structures and changes, which
interact dynamically with contextual conditions (OBrien et al, 2007), socioeconomic
systems therefore can determine peoples ability to cope with the impacts of climate change
(Chambers, 1989). A crucial point is the understanding that the potential disastrous effects
of climate hazards are not natural phenomena, but rather social constructions, a result of
the resources availability and the architecture of entitlements (Adger and Kelly, 1999) to
access those resources (Kelly and Adger, 2000). This approach therefore provides the
theoretical grounds to reveal that the poorest communities are the most vulnerable to
climate change, and that the shocks caused by climate change are already hindering the
development efforts (DFID, 2005, Scott, 2008).
This concept of vulnerability provides a very important framework for the formulation of
policies oriented towards the identification of social and institutional tools to address
vulnerability. Also, recognizing that vulnerability is a complex phenomenon involving a
multiplicity of factors, it encourages a multidisciplinary approach (OBrien et al., 2007) within
the policy making process.
As we will see later in this chapter (3.1.c) and in Chapter 4, social networks and collective
action (Adger et al., 2003, Pelling and High, 2008) and good governance (in terms of
enhancement of accountability and participation in public decision making) are believed to
play a very important role in the reduction of vulnerability to climate change.
3. 1.c Adaptation practices (Box 3)
The adaptive capacity of a certain community, social system or area has been described in
many different ways; we will use Brookss definition:
The ability or capacity of a system to modify or change its characteristics or behavior
so as to cope better with existing or anticipated external stresses (Brooks, 2003: 8).
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
22/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
14
This ability is excised through a number of adaptation practices that can be both physical
and behavioral. There is a growing recognition that people are already adapting to the
impacts created by climate change (Smithers and Smith 1997, Pelling and High, 2005,
Agraval, 2010, Chatterjee, 2010, Moser et al, 2010). When there is no public policy that
respond to climate hazards by promoting adaptation measures (planned adaptation),people engage in so called autonomous (or spontaneous) adaptation practices. (IPCC,
2001; Smith et al, 2010).
Autonomous adaptation practices need some conditions in order to be successful. Some
authors assess how the agents assets (such as education, access to information and
financial resources, social networks) have an influence on the adaptation choices and
outcomes (Brooks, 2003). While other authors focus on the key role of the authorities
(Argawal, 2010) to create enabling environments. It is therefore important to analyze the
practices, their agents and the wider political and economical contexts1.
In the following chapter I will therefore explore the role of literacy - that can be considered
(Chapter 2) as a prerogative of individuals, households and communities - in shaping
individual, households and collective adaptation practices (Moser et al, 2010). I will
furthermore look at the nexuses between literacy practices and social capital. As Pelling
and High (2005) have suggested there are two main, and opposed, scopes for the
mobilization of social capital in the framework of adaptation. On one side social capital can
support the organization of material interventions(such as the community mobilization for
the construction of river banks or drainages). In this case people mobilize their own already
existing social capital (Chatterjee, 2011).
On the other side, social capital is invoked as a driving force to lead processes of
institutional modification, such as democratization of the use of natural resources or broad
political participation. In this case the latent social capital capacity needs to be developed.
As in the development and adaptation continuum (3.2.a), all these adaptation practices can
be ordered according to how directly they address a particular climate hazard.
1
The construction of specific adaptation practices will be therefore dependent on the socio-economic resources (box 5, Figure 1), the institutions (box 4, Figure 1), and the social and physicalvulnerability to a specific hazard (box 2, Figure 1).
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
23/49
Figu
As we will see in the foll
framework of our analysi
adaptation choices done a
3.1.d The role of instituti
Institutions here are defi
nongovernmental organiz
community based organiimportant roles in determin
often it is trough local insti
the communities. Argawal
institution in adaptation pr
an institutional context, a
interaction of stakeholde
institutions). These transa
will require different literac
3.1.e Socio-economic res
When talking about soci
individuals and communiti
factors and vulnerability a
discussed by many author
important to notice that t
individual condition; they th
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate chan
re 2 Mapping adaptive capacity through social capital
owing chapter, some of these elements
s, together with Tanner and Mitchell (20
cording to the poverty category (Chapter 4).
ns (Box 4)
ned broadly, as we will see that formal
tion, etc) and informal institutions (church
ations), public and private bodies and cing peoples ability to perform adaptive pra
tution that external resources (box 6, Figur
(2010) confirms this interaction with his stu
ctices and concludes that local adaptation
d most of the times ongoing adaptation
rs at different level (households, civil
tions are often textually mediated, as sho
practices according to the nature of the sta
ources/assets (Box 5)
o-economic resources I will hereby refer
s assets, capabilities and entitlements. Th
nd resilience in the context of climate cha
(Moser, 1998; Adger and Kelly, 1999; Bro
hese elements are meant to characterize
erefore could differ from the physical or soci
e adaptation practices
15
ill be utilized in the
08) classification of
(local government,
es, social networks,
ivil society, all playtices. Moreover very
1) are channeled to
y of the influence of
always occurs within
ractices involve the
society and public
n in Chapter 2, and
eholder involved.
to households and
e link between these
ge has been widely
ks et al, 2005). It is
a household or an
ial vulnerability of the
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
24/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
16
wider community. The attention to the household unit of analysis is justified by the fact that
this dissertation focuses on chronic poverty (Hulme et al., 2001). On the other hand, it is
recognized that also within the household there can be significant differences in the
distribution of assets, especially according to gender and age (ibid).
These assets strongly shape the adaptation practices and the ability to perform them. As
Prowse and Scott (2008: 39) suggests assets are vital elements of any pro-poor adaptation
strategy. II will argue in the following chapter that literacy practices are very relevant assets
within the adaptation discourse.
3.1.f External resources (Box 6)
As anticipated in Chapter 2 (p. 9) the context of adaptation to climate change is
characterized by the involvement of a number of international actors and the commitment of
the mobilization of resources that shall address this issue in the future. Even if the
mechanisms that will govern the allocation of the adaptation funds are far from being clear,
there will be tangible possibilities for poor people to benefit from these measures. However
it is very important to make sure that those benefits will reach the poorest communities and
that their priorities are met (Tanner and Mitchell, 2008).
3.2 Vulnerability, Development and Resilience
I will add two more concepts to the adaptation framework, as they are strongly related to it
and will be utilized in the following chapters.
3.2.a The Vulnerability Development Continuum
It is widely recognized that developing countries are the more vulnerable to climate change
(IPCC, 2001), therefore there are attempts to integrate adaptation measures within the
development discourse. On one side, it is believed that the adverse effects of climate
change are going to hinder the development progresses towards economic and social
development of many countries; on the other side, many people advocate for the
prioritization of the most vulnerable and poor areas in directing adaptation efforts (Pavoola
and Adger, 2006).
Mc Grey et al (2007) propose that there is a continuum between development and
adaptation; on the one hand of the continuum there are the classic development activities,
that can reduce the overall vulnerability but do not target a specific climate change hazard;
on the other there are adaptation activities strongly targeted at reducing the negative
impacts of specific hazards (and that would not normally be addressed within the
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
25/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
17
development framework); between these two ends there are various forms of activities that
place different degrees of emphasis on vulnerability reduction and addressing climate
related hazards.
3.2.b Resilience
The concept of resilience is highly debated and contested, especially because it is utilized in
a number of different disciplines (Manyena, 2006). Echoing the definition given within the
Hyogo Framework for Action, for the purpose of this dissertation we will refer to the
definition suggested by Twigg (2010). A community or system can be defined resilient when
it able to: anticipate, minimize and absorb potential stresses through adaptation or
resistance; manage or maintain certain basic functions during disastrous events; and
recover after an event. This definition of resilience poses attention on what community can
do for themselves based on their capacity rather than their vulnerability and needs when a
disaster strikes. Therefore building resilience can be considered as a systematic approach
to improve the existing adaptation practices (box 3 in Figure 1) aimed at risk reduction and
management (Twigg, 2010).
3.3 Conclusions
As anticipated in the introduction, the focus of the dissertation is to analyze the interactionbetween one asset, literacy, and all the other elements composing the adaptation practices
framework. Within this chapter I have described all the elements of the framework and how
they are generally understood to relate to each other. In the following chapter I will unpack
the adaptive practice box and its relation with literacy further, looking at it through a chronic
poverty lens.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
26/49
Chapter 4: The li
The objective of this cha
Chapter 2 and Chapter 3.
skill, or a technology; it is i
(functionings). Literacy is
mediators and collectively,
other side, it has been ex
depends on a number of
predictions; on the overall
institutions and external relastly and more significant
household or individual.
4 .1 Which options ar
4.1. a Definition of chroni
When talking about pove
multidimensional aspects
consumption paradigm (M
and Satterthwaite, 2008). I
of poverty as theorized b
dimensions are taken in co
Figure 3 T
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate chan
eracy-adaptation analytical
pter is to merge the two theoretical fram
On one side, it has been shown that litera
stead a social practice that has multiple sh
not only an individual requisite, as it can b
and texts mediate human interactions of v
lained that peoples resilience and adaptati
factors: on the nature of the hazards a
physical and social vulnerability to the haza
sources that can facilitate the creation of enly to us, on the socio-economic resources
e available to chronic poor?
c poverty
rty we will refer to the body of literature
composing human wellbeing, going bey
ser, 1998: Tanner and Mitchell, 2008: Hul
n the framework of this dissertation we hav
y Hulme et al. (2001) (see Figure 3 belo
nsideration: time and expenditure.
e chronic poor, transient poor a non poor - a categorizati
So
e adaptation practices
18
ramework
eworks described in
y is far more than a
pes and applications
e performed through
rious nature. On the
on to climate change
d the clarity of the
rd; on the role of the
abling environments;(assets) of a certain
that recognizes the
ond the income or
e et al, 2001; Moser
used the categories
w), where two main
on
rce: Hulme et al. 2001
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
27/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
19
As we can see, chronic poor are those experiencing the deepest level and duration of
poverty. The Chronic Poverty Research Centre of Manchester has estimated that there
were between 320 and 443 million chronically poor people in the world in 2007, the majority
living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (CPRC 2008). Most of them live in insecure
environments and have few assets or entitlements to cope with shocks and stresses(CPRC 2008: vii).
The concept of asset vulnerability utilized in the chronic poverty literature to describe
insecurity in the wellbeing of individuals, households and communities, including sensitivity
to change (Moser, 1998) has obvious resonances with the adaptation practices framework
identified in Chapter 3.
4.1. b Adaptation Practices and poverty categories
Tanner and Mitchell (2008) describe how people belonging to different poverty groups
(utilizing the categories described by Hulme et al., 2001) have different adaptation choices.
The table below (Table 1) is an adaptation form the one proposed by them. I have divided
the public policy driven adaptation practices into two categories: social protection and
governance, referring to the two categories proposed by Pelling and High (2005) already
discussed in Chapter 3: material intervention and institutional modification. This two
categories give us the opportunity to explore two different ways to approach the institutions
that, as we will see shortly, require different literacy functionings.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
28/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
20
Table 1 Adaptation practices per poverty category
Aggregate category Chronic Poverty Transient Poverty Non-Poor
Specific povertycategory
Always Poor Usually poor Churningpoor
Occasionallypoor
Never poor
Au
tonomousa
dap
tation
Livelihoods
selling lastassets
sending youngerchildren to work
crime
migration tomore exposedlocation
reduction ofnutritional intake
sendingyoungerchildren to work
migration
crime
seasonalmigration
less riskyproduction
workingmultiple jobsand longerhours
diversifylivelihoods
investmentsin multiple
financialassets
buy drought-tolerantseeds or newtechnology
diversifylivelihoods
Marketexchange
N/Amicro-savings,micro-credit,micro-insurance
Cattleinsurance
weather indexinsurance
cattle
insurancemicro-savings,micro-credit
selling assets
weather indexinsurance
micro-
savings,micro-credit
selling assets
cropinsurance
farm and
domesticinsurance
price hedging
Pu
blicpo
licy
drivena
dapta
tion
(Box
4&
6,
Chp
3)
SocialProtection
materialintervention
social pensions
cash for work
assistedmigration
conditional cashtransfers
subsidizedseed banks
cash for work
communityrestockingschemes
communityrestockingschemes
improvedremittanceschemes
employmentassuranceschemes
improvedremittanceschemes;
N/A
Governance
institutionalmodification
democratizationof naturalresourcemanagement;
right toadaptation/redistribution
promotion ofhealth andnutritionservices
democratizationof naturalresourcemanagement
promotion ofhealth andnutritionservices
improvedclimateinformation(seasonalforecasting)
irrigationschemes;ecosystemrehabilitation
improvedclimateinformation(seasonalforecasting)
N/A
Adapted from Tanner and Mitchell, 2008
How literacy, and what kind of literacies, can empower or limit the exercise of these
options? I have utilized the above adaptation-poverty framework to develop a literacy-
adaptation analytical tool (Table 2) that summarizes the most relevant nexuses between
literacy and adaptation practices, proposes policy and pedagogy possible implications and
related theories.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
29/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
21
Table 2 Literacy-Adaptation analytical tool
AdaptationpracticeCategory
Role of literacy in adaptationpractices
Implications for pedagogiesand policies
Theories andmethods
Livelihoods
Mobility/migration related literacy
Bookkeeping related literacy andnumeracy
Skilled work related literacies
Access to information about newtechnologies, climate relatedinnovations
Integration of literacy andnumeracy teaching within
livelihoods trainings
Teaching of literacy in theworkplaces
Livelihoods relatedprimers/curricula contents
Focus on lifelong learning andnon-formal education
Ethnographicenquires
Marginal returns
Marketexchange
Bookkeeping related literacy andnumeracy
Reading and composing contracts forselling and buying assets
Marketing goods related literacy
Independent control or positiveliteracy mediation over insurancedocuments
Integration of literacy andnumeracy teaching within micro-finance programs
Focus on lifelong learning andnon-formal education
Ethnographicenquires
Marginal returns
SocialProtection
Independent control or positiveliteracy mediation over the completionof bureaucratic forms
Independent control or positiveliteracy mediation over the documentsproduced within aid/disaster reliefprojects
Explicit consideration of literacyin the planning of aid/disasterrelief programs
Integration of literacy within riskand adaptation awarenessprograms
Ethnographicenquires
Literacymediation
Governance
Command over communication with
institutions: reading writing letters,minutes of meetings
Access to laws, governmentdocuments, newspapers, politicaldocuments;
Access to the web
Integration of literacy within
programs aimed at raising criticalconsciousness
Integration of literacy within rightsbased programs
Teaching of literacy and ITCrelated skills
Critical analysis over theteaching and use of hegemoniclanguages (multilingual contexts)
Focus on quality education andlifelong learning
Ethnographic
enquires
Socialreproductiontheories
Criticalpedagogies
Grassrootsliteracy
GenderInequalities
Bookkeeping related literacy andnumeracy to gain control overhousehold assets;
Reading and composing contracts toreclaim rights over property;
Collective use of literacy within genderawareness raising;
Gender sensitiveprimers/curricula;
Gender sensitive pedagogies,teacher/learner relations;
Integration of literacy teaching ingender awareness raisingprograms;
Reflect/Mahila Samakya;
Focus on lifelong learning
Socialreproductiontheories;
Ethnographicenquiry
Criticalpedagogies
Note: By positive literacy mediation I mean a situation where the mediator shares the same agenda with thebeneficiary of the mediation
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
30/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
22
4.2 What role for literacy in these adaptive options?
4.2.a Livelihoods and market exchange
As we have seen, the relation between education, literacy and development is highly
contested (Chapter 2). Moreover, the nature of the relation between education and chronic
poverty is not obvious and poorly researched (Rose and Dyer, 2005).
The first thing that we notice looking at the livelihoods options available to chronic poor
(Table 1) is that they are not many. This is because in a context of extreme scarcity of
assets, the adaptation options and the economic interests might conflict violently. For
example, in order to prevent or respond to a shock a family might be forced between
sending their younger children to school or reduce the family food intake. These actions
instead of reducing vulnerability make it worst in the medium or long run. This phenomenon
is known as maladaptation (Sattethwaite et al., 2007). In this context being resilient is
particularly important, as livelihoods are often on the edge (Ellis, 2003).
Literacy plays a significant role in maintaining the fragile livelihoods of chronic poor. When
talking about literacy and livelihoods it is very important to recall that there are literacy
practices involved in a large number of economic and productive activities. Chronic poor are
often managers of a complex portfolio of economic activities and an ethnographic eye on
these practices can tell how texts mediate most of them. As Maddox (2001:148) reports
when observing literacy mediations in a bazaar in Bangladesh what is relatively rare in thebazaar and in other types of rural economic activity is the non-use of literacy. Selling assets
very often involves the production of official documentation as running small businesses
requires some form of record keeping; the same is required when asking for a formal or
informal credit. However these functionings are frequently very different from the ones
taught within the formal schooling system or in adult education primers (Rogers, 2005).
These literacy functionings are particularly interesting for two main reasons: one is that they
are often performed by people who consider themselves (and within the statistics officially
classified as) illiterate and they are mainly learned outside the formal schooling system
(Maddox, 2001, Rogers et al., 2007). They therefore disclose that illiterate are often not
passive people with a deficit, they are rather active performers of agency, that through the
literacy practices that they enact, pinpoint the goals that literacy programs shall attain.
When people are not able to perform these micro-literacies (Maddox, 2001:141) they have
to use mediators. As we will see later, the role of these mediators is far from neutral as they
carry their own agenda.
The second reason of interest is that these located expertise literacy functionings, even
though might not be enough to allow individual or household social mobility, can build their
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
31/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
23
resilience to shocks. Resilience, especially in the case of the category of usually poor and
the churning poor (see Figure 1) might significantly contribute to diminish the chances to
drop back in a lower category and increase the possibility to improve their conditions by
accumulating other assets. Maddox (2010) explains that chronic poors acquisition of basic
literacy and numeracy skills in the framework of adult education classes in Bangladesh hasshown benefits in daily life management of livelihoods. These marginal returns, even if
causing minimal economic returns as measured in the classical economic way, trigger
tangible benefits. These daily micro-literacy events have in fact a massive importance in
strengthening the fragile stability of the few livelihoods assets available to chronic poor.
In addition to that, in the framework of pro-poor adaptation is crucial to: on one side to
empower existing livelihoods (addressing the root causes of vulnerability, see Chapter 3)
and, on the other side, to increase people capacity to adapt their livelihoods in the face of
changing conditions (Eriksen and OBrien, 2007). This is why diversification becomes
crucial. It has also to be taken into account the evidence that chronic poor are not prone to
take on risky behaviors to modify their situation (Wood, 2003). Migration of some member
of the household is a typical way of diversifying livelihoods. The role of literacy and
education in migration can be crucial. To quote one example, when migration is performed
towards urban centers mainly young educated male will be sent, reaffirming and
strengthening gender inequalities (Khotari, 2002).
The above mentioned ethnographic studies help us in understanding of how, in a context of
limited resources and multiple risks, the control over the micro-literacy and numeracy
events that are central to many economic transactions might be crucial to preserve, expand
or diversify livelihoods. Additionally, the studies highlight the critical role literacy has over
decision making in contexts of literacy inequalities.
4.2.b Power relations and decision making over uses of assets
This category is not originally included in the adaptation-poverty framework (Table 1).
However, households gender inequalities over the decision making processes are to be
considered an important underlying cause of vulnerability (Roy and Venema, 2002; Brody,
2008); in addition to that, adaptation policies, in order to be pro-poor, have to be gender
sensitive (Polak, 2008). I suggest that a focus on literacy inequalities makes it imperative to
exploit the transformative potential of the use of literacy empowerment to address
adaptation. Literacy inequalities are often present within the same household, and this is
signaled by the strong correlation between low literacy rates and high dependency rates
(CPRC, 2008). These inequalities strongly influence the power over the making of decisions
that can be crucial for the destiny of the households livelihoods. As mentioned in Chapter 2,
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
32/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
24
some literacy practices, such as the literacy and numeracy that allow the control over the
family bookkeeping, can have a transformative effect on the gender relations (Maddox,
2005).
The focus on gender inequalities can inform a number of transformative pedagogies
(Aikman and Unterhalter, 2005) in both the formal and the informal literacy education
sector.
4.2.c Networks and public policy driven adaptation
The concept of social capital is widely utilized in the context of climate change (Adger,
2003). One aspect that is generally recognized (Moser and Satterthwaite, 2008) is that the
capacity of a household or a community to make demands and work in partnership with a
number of different stakeholders (local authorities, national or international Ngos, financial
institutions) can reduce significantly their vulnerability.
The distribution of losses through the support of networks, at many levels, is one of the
adaptive practices most used. An in-depth research done by Chatterjee (2010) in Mumbai
slums has shown that, after a flood, most of the households have utilized local networks
(mostly money lenders, informal establishment and local traders) and networks within the
ward and the city (religious organizations, employers, friends and family) to acquire
economic assistance and recover. Noticeably, over the 18% used national and global
networks as well. This example confirms that networking is crucial when it comes to
adaptation (Pelling and High, 2005, Moser and Satterthwaite, 2008 STHH).
What could it be the role of literacy in shaping these options? The first observation is that
often the (power) relations within or across social networks are mediated by literacy events.
When these events involve stakeholders of different nature, then text will need to have
certain characteristics that make it transferrable, form a context to the other (Chapter 2).
The second consideration is that activities oriented at material interventions might requiredifferent literacy functionings than activities oriented at the modification of the institutions2.
4.2 d Material intervention oriented adaptation practices
As Chatterjee (2010) describes, people living in the poorest areas of Mumbai show to have
a wide spectrum of stakeholders/networks, from local to global scale, on which they can rely
to reduce their vulnerability on the face of climate hazards events. We can assume that the
2We hereby refer to the categories proposed by Pelling and High (2005) within the Mapping adaptive
capacity through social capital, discussed in Chapter 3.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
33/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
25
relations established with money lenders and local traders will probably require literacy and
numeracy functionings similar to those described in the livelihoods and market exchange
section of this chapter. However there are a number of more formal relationships which are
more likely to be mediated by bureaucratic texts. For instance, the access to the social
protection measures (Table 1) that the government or other relevant organizations mightmake available, would probably require at least one person to fill in one form and declare
its status. In this case, issues of literacy mediation and all the power related issues attached
(Chapter 2) play an important role. Bureaucratic texts are the embodiment of the power
relation that occurs between the state and the citizen; they often force the officers
representing the state on the field to act as translators (Jones, 2000) for the citizens. This
mediation service is not neutral, it might be positive but it also might leave a very small
space for the citizen agency. This lack of control might be problematic in cases of conflicting
interests or agendas between the mediator and the citizen (Barlett et al., 2011).
Furthermore, in the context of policy driven adaptation practices made available through aid
agencies, literacy issues and literacy practices might influence the outcomes. Kell (2005,
2008) and Aikman (2001) investigated on the role of literacy within development
interventions. Kell suggests that development projects might be considered as communities
of practice (Kell, 2005:177) that create their own literacy events. Within these interventions,
text, such as lists, plans and invoices are central to the construction of agency of
individuals (Kell, 2008:892). She notices that the beneficiaries agency can be empowered
through the mediation process. Therefore, not all the individuals need to be literate in order
to make things happen. However, to make this process work it is essential an explicit
consideration of the role played by literacy (Aikman, 2001). The way in which
considerations about the literacy practices are taken into account when designing and,
especially, when implementing a development (or an adaptation) intervention will tell much
about how power relations are considered and challenged.
4.2. e Institutional modification oriented adaptation practices
This is a very crucial field because of its transformative claim, but it is also generally
undervalued (Pelling and High, 2005). According to the CPRC, one of the characteristic of
chronic poor is their exclusion from the political sphere, their lack of representation and
sense of citizenship. In this case, in order to overcome this tendency, the empowerment of
their social capital is both a must and a challenge. As we have seen in Chapter 2, literacy
can play a role in enhancing peoples participation in the public space (Freire, 1970,
Doronila and Cuevas Sipin, 2005). Moreover, it has to be noticed that often, especially in
urban environments, authorities have a hostile attitude towards the chronic poor
(Sattethwaite et al, 2008) and therefore do not put in place mechanisms for participation
that take into account peoples communication needs.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
34/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
26
As Blommaert (2008) suggests, the inequalities in the distribution of literacy are mirroring
the wider inequalities present in a society. The processes to make the voice of the poor
heard are often mediated by texts and various form of literacy. This reduced the chances of
circulation of ideas, interests and perceptions that would be crucial for the authorities to
design effective pro-poor initiatives. OBrien and Leichenko (2000) note how poor aresubject to a double burden: climate change and globalization. The challenges posed by
globalization dont allow any legitimacy for grassroots literacy (Blommaert, 2008), on the
contrary they require the production of texts that have to be globally understandable, not
only in terms of language, but also in terms of register and mode of transmission, such as in
the case of internet. Looking at this scale, literacy inequalities seem to be overwhelming,
raising on one side issues of educational quality, on the other issues of cultural hegemony.
Because of the predominance of the Education for All agenda (Torres, 2000; Maddox et al.,
2011) in the framework of the international educational policy, the attention towards the
transformative potential of literacy (Freire, 1970) has strongly declined in the last 30 years.
However, it is still possible and necessary, when talking about literacy and social change, to
think of transformative pedagogies. There has been interventions, where adult literacy
trainings had a central role, that proved to have a strong impact in the way people have
negotiated the use of public resources (Doronilla and Cueva Sipin, 2005), an issue that is
crucial in the field of adaptation.
4.3 Conclusions
This chapter shows that there are tangible nexuses between the mastering of certain
literacy practices and the performance of the analyzed adaptation practices categories. We
also have discovered that literacy, when promoted through appropriate pedagogies, can
also have a transformative potential in the field of gender inequalities. These nexuses are
particularly crucial for the chronic poor as, in a context of dramatic scarcity of assets,
addressing literacy inequalities might represent an effective way to build peoples resilience.
Moreover it confirms that, as Tanner and Mitchell (2008) suggest, the focus of climate
change adaptation interventions, focused at reducing the vulnerability of chronic poor, have
to be located in the development side of the development-vulnerability continuum (Mc
Gray et al 2007, Chapter 3).
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
35/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
27
Chapter 5 Urban poverty, literacy and climate change in
Bangladesh, a case study
This chapter tests the relevance of the literacy-adaptation framework developed in the
previous chapter and raises some questions about the reliability of the mainstream literacy
measurement.
5.1 Chronic poor adaptation to climate change in urban centers
People living in urban3 centers in low and middle-income countries are, worldwide, the most
exposed to climate related hazards (Moser et Satterthwaite, 2008).They represent more
than one third of the world population and are estimate to grow massively in the next 20
years (Satterthwaite et al, 2007). Urban centers located in low and middle-income countries
are considered to be extremely vulnerable, because of the inadequacy of the infrastructure
and the poor accountability of the institutions governing them (ibid). One of the
characteristic of urban chronic poor is that of living in environmentally insecure areas
(CPRC, 2008). But also, they are typically poorly represented politically and live situations
of conflict with the local authorities (ibid.). As Sattertwithe et al (2007) suggest, in many
cases urban policies (often focused at blocking the expansion of slums settlements)
increase peoples vulnerability to climate hazards, producing maladaptation (Sattethwaite et
al., 2007). Given the magnitude of the vulnerability of the poor urban population, the
necessity for pro-poor oriented adaptation initiatives is evident (Satterwaite et al, 2007;
Moser and Satterthwaite, 2008).
.
5.3 Chronic Poor adaptation in Bangladesh urban areas
5.3.a Urban chronic poor and exposure to climate variability in Bangladesh
Urbanization is a key feature of the recent history of Bangladesh. According to Banks et al
(2011), within this generation the country will witness the tipping point whereby urban poor
will outnumber rural poor. Even if the trend is clear, there are evidences that not enough
3
I am aware of the limits of the use of the definition urban, especially when utilized in the dichotomyurban-rural. This antithesis is a human-made construct. The risk of this polarization is to over-generalize and to depict the urban poor as a deprived category of people all holding the samecharacteristics.
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
36/49
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate change adaptation practices
28
attention is given to the research and the production of sound policies oriented to the
reduction of urban poverty (ibid).
In addition to that, the peculiar nature of the Bengali natural territory puts these people at
high risk of climate related hazards. Agrawala (2003) anticipated that climate change willaffect Bangladesh in four main ways: accelerated Himalayas glacier melting, increase in
rainfall during the monsoon season, sea level rise leading to flooding, and increased
frequency and severity of cyclones. Rawlani and Sovacool (2011) show how every area in
the country will be affected at least from one of these hazard. One of the expected
outcomes of these phenomena is the forecasted migration of an enormous number of
people: 25 million climate refugees if 15% of the land will be inundated by 2050, (ibid.). This
will obviously put greater pressure on urban centers. Dhaka has been already signaled as
the most vulnerable Asian city by the WWF (Roy et al, 2011), and it is already believed to
become the world second largest city by 2020 (Banks et al., 2011).
Urban poverty is a renowned feature of cities in Bangladesh. Over the 35 per cent of the
national urban population is believed to live in slums, and even though urban poverty rates
have experienced a decline in the last 30 years, the absolute number has however risen
dramatically (Blank et al., 2011). It has to be noticed that the high commoditization of urban
life (need of purchasing food, paying for rent and transport) makes poverty lines generally
unfit to measure the cost of living in urban areas (Satterthwaite, 1997). Therefore, thephenomenon of urban poverty tends to be underestimated (Blank et al., 2011). The
dependency on purchased food also makes urban poor particularly vulnerable to the
already happening prices hikes and that are believed to increase in the future due to climate
change (Rawlani and Sovacool, 2011). Lastly, from the urbanization point of view the slums
are high-density areas, where people live in overcrowded houses that are generally of very
poor quality (made out of mud, tin of partially in concrete or worst in squatter settlements).
These areas are scarcely served by public services such as water supply and drainages.
Moreover the land tenure is often a problem and the risks of eviction are very high (Rashid,2000). These conditions add to the overall vulnerability and make the dwellers of these
areas extremely vulnerable to climatic hazards.
5.3.b Urban Chronic poor and literacy in Bangladesh urban centers, what is to be
measured?
From a literacy point of view the situation in Bangladesh is far from positive. Even if the
educational policies have been successfully focused at reducing the divide between boys
and girls enrollment, on the other end no efforts have been putted into improving the quality
of education provided (Chowdury, 2003). Nowadays the national over 15 years old literacy
-
8/3/2019 The Role of Literacy in Pro Poor Climate Change Adaptation
37/49
rates are of 55% (UNES
higher in urban environm
together with the scarce
provoked a worsening in a
Figure 4
Can we therefore consider
utilized data collected in
Programme (UPPRP) of t
Development Programme (
In the questionnaire delive
economic characteristics
education. Two questions
other one to the years s
framework might not be v
urban data. While in terms
noticing, that in 3 out of th
Comilla. The majority, 33.
attended the secondary sc
4These data were collected b
realize a baseline survey for ttowns in Bagladesh (Khulna,
of the survey are poverty-relpoverty and comparison amogiven the importance of the clrelated to hazard physical vul
The role of literacy in pro-poor climate chan
O, 2011). Even if, as it might be expect
nts the constant increase in the number
ttention to service provision to poor living
ult literacy rates in urban areas (Figure 4).
orsening human development indicators in urban locatio
the issue of literacy a m