Doctoral Dissertation Research: Developing Climate Resilience in At-Risk Societies

国际社会正在做出新的、不断增长的努力来帮助弱势群体适应气候变化的影响。在美国和国外，政策越来越强调促进“弹性”。但气候适应力实际需要什么以及如何衡量其成功仍然存在不确定性。发达国家已作出大量承诺，促进发展中国家适应气候变化。因此，多边机构正在寻求建立实现气候适应能力所需的机构和专业知识。这些努力标志着发展优先事项的转变，这可能在未来几十年产生重大影响。作为目前气候驱动干预措施的目标的几个发展中国家之一，塔吉克斯坦提供了一个有价值的案例研究机会，以探讨直接针对气候影响的发展政策的有效性。吸取的教训可以具有广泛的适用性。因此，普林斯顿大学博士生伊戈尔·鲁比诺夫（Igor Rubinov）在若昂·G·比尔博士的建议下，将在塔吉克斯坦开展研究，评估以气候为重点的发展政策对弱势群体的影响。支持该项目是美国国家科学基金会文化人类学计划项目组合的一部分，该项目通过研究受气候压力的社会生态系统的恢复力和稳健性，为国家福祉做出贡献。通过关注世界银行资助的在中亚最大河流上实施的水资源开发项目，研究人员将探索国际开发实践、国家级资源管理和地方适应能力如何结合在一起。他将采用混合方法策略，通过访谈、焦点小组、参与者观察以及收集 GIS 数据和社会地图来收集实施者、利益相关者和最终用户的数据。他将比较首都的发展专家、区域中心的国家规划者以及必须将国际要求纳入其生计战略的农村村民的做法。目的是衡量通过提高当地人民的适应能力来提高社会经济福祉的机构的有效性。 最终的目标是了解全球政策目标对被要求适应的当地居民的影响。该研究还将有助于更全面地了解复原力的含义以及它与全球化等其他进程的关系。

There is a new but growing international effort to help vulnerable populations adapt to the effects of climate change. In the United States and abroad, policy increasingly has emphasized the promotion of "resilience." But uncertainty remains over what climate resilience actually entails and how its success can be measured. Large pledges have been made by developed countries to promote climate adaptation in developing ones. As a result, multilateral agencies are seeking to foster the institutions and expertise needed to make climate resilience a reality. These efforts signal a shift in development priorities which may prove consequential in the decades to come. As one of several developing nations currently being targeted by climate-driven interventions, Tajikistan offers the opportunity for a valuable case study to explore the efficacy of development policies that target climate effects directly. Lessons learned can have wide applicability. Therefore, Princeton University doctoral student, Igor Rubinov, advised by Dr. Joao G. Biehl, will undertake research in Tajikistan to assess the impact of climate-focused development policies on vulnerable populations. Supporting this project is part of the NSF Cultural Anthropology Program's portfolio of projects that contribute to the national well-being through research on the resilience and robustness of climate-stressed socio-ecological systems. By focusing on a single World Bank-funded water-resources development project being enacted on the largest river in Central Asia, the researcher will explore how international development practices, state-level resource management, and local adaptation capacities come together. He will employ a mixed-methods strategy, gathering data from implementers, stakeholders, and end users through interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and the collection of GIS data and social mapping. He will compare the practices of development experts in the capital, state planners in the regional center, and rural villagers who must incorporate the international imperatives into their livelihood strategies. The aim is to gauge the effectiveness of institutions working to enhance socioeconomic well-being by raising the adaptive capacity of local people. Ultimately, the goal is to understand the impact of global policy objectives on the local populations who are being asked to adapt. The research will also contribute to building more general understanding of what resilience entails and how it relates to other processes such as globalization.