Vulnerability and Resistance: a discourse analysis of power in global climate politics

研究计划对联合国气候变化框架公约(气候公约)缔约方会议(COPS)内的脆弱性话语进行分析，重点放在所谓的“小岛屿发展中国家”(SID)作为天生脆弱国家(SID)的有争议的表述，而不是它们对不充分的气候行动的强大和直言不讳的抵制。使用批判性的女权主义、政治经济学和反殖民方法使人们能够比传统的IR方法更丰富地理解权力，并允许审查作为斗争场所的《气候公约》内的语言。脆弱性的论述最终被视为一个被载入的概念，但岛屿国家有可能在联合国气候变化框架公约中挪用和利用这一概念来加强其论据。在政府间气候变化组织内部，这一术语大多被不加批判地使用，并被视为可衡量的。在地理学上，学者们更关心这个术语的含义。一项女权主义批评发现，“脆弱或善良会转移人们对决策过程中不平等现象的注意力”(Arora-Jonsson 2010：744)。将岛屿国家框定为弱小和边缘国家使它们女性化，并使它们从属于富裕排放国为谈判带来的“男性技术和专家知识”(Arora-Jonsson 2010：750)。最后，IR提供了一种世界性的理解，在这种理解中，人类共享的对伤害的脆弱性是“陌生人之间最容易获得的团结点之一”(Linklate 2010：155)。然而，对其他人的非人化可能会抵消这种效果，使“某些身体比其他身体更容易受到伤害”(Gregory 2015：1)。在这一背景下，《气候公约》中关于身份和脆弱性的斗争对岛屿国家以外的全球讨论产生了影响，特别是作为对气候变化安全讨论的一种对抗，因为气候变化不可避免地存在冲突。脆弱性在《气候公约》中历来是如何使用的？2.《气候公约》中不同行为者如何部署脆弱性论述？3.脆弱性概念在气候论述中的使用随着时间的推移发生了怎样的变化，这对气候行动有何影响？1.对缔约方会议的发言和政府提交的材料以及《气候公约》创建以来签订的条约中的脆弱性论述进行了文件分析，以跟踪该论述的发展，并了解谁在使用它以及如何使用它。重点放在《气候公约》历史上的关键时刻，特别是关于小岛屿国家作为一个群体，以及其成员国和低抱负群体。这使得能够分析那些不希望做出强有力的缓解承诺的人是否对脆弱性进行了战略部署，或者他们是否完全避免了这一点。对出席过缔约方会议的代表和民间社会行为者进行了半结构化访谈，并通过文献分析确定他们是脆弱性论述的主要使用者。3.缔约方会议的意见：《气候公约》实际上是如何运作的，脆弱性是如何部署和实施的。这一过程将包括观察无障碍会议和演讲，但也观察周围的民间社会行动，如抗议和艺术展示。虽然COPS上发生的许多事情都被记录在案，但直接观察对这个项目将是非常有利的。演讲的表现与其内容同样重要，观察将帮助我了解脆弱性是如何在实践中表现和接受的。

Research PlanAn analysis of vulnerability discourse within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COPs), focussing on the contested representation of the so-called 'small island developing states' (SIDS) as inherently vulnerable, in contrast to their powerful and vocal resistance to inadequate climate action.Using critical feminist, political economy and anti-colonial approaches enables a richer understanding of power than traditional IR approaches, and allows an examination of the language within the UNFCCC as a site of struggle. Vulnerability discourse is ultimately seen as a loaded concept, but one with the potential for island states to appropriate and use to strengthen their case in the UNFCCC.Literature review of vulnerability3 main strands of thought reflect the conceptual confusion which surrounds vulnerability. Within the intergovernmental climate change organisations, the term is mostly used uncritically and treated as measurable. In geography, scholars are more concerned with the implications of the term. A feminist critique finds that "vulnerability or virtuousness can deflect attention from inequalities in decision making" (Arora-Jonsson 2010:744). Framing island states as weak and peripheral feminises and subordinates them to the "masculine technical and expert knowledge" (Arora-Jonsson 2010:750) brought to the negotiations by the wealthy emitter states. Vulnerability discourse then, serves to naturalise their loss, shifting blame away from mitigation.Finally, IR offers a cosmopolitan understanding, in which the vulnerability to harm that humans share is one of "the most readily available points of solidarity between strangers" (Linklater 2010:155). However, the dehumanisation of others can negate the effect, leaving "certain bodies more vulnerable than others" (Gregory 2015:1). The struggle over the identity and vulnerability in the UNFCCC seen in this context has implications for global discourses beyond island states, especially as a counter to the security discourse of climate change as inevitably conflictual.Key Questions and Methods1. How has vulnerability been used historically in the UNFCCC? 2. How is vulnerability discourse deployed by different actors in the UNFCCC?3. How has the use of the vulnerability concept changed over time within climate discourse and what implications does this have for climate action?1. Documentary analysis of vulnerability discourse in the speeches and government submissions made in the COPs, as well as the treaties made since the creation of the UNFCCC, to trace the growth of the discourse and to see who is using it and how.The focus is on key moments in the history of the UNFCCC, and especially on AOSIS as a group, as well as its member states, and the low ambition groups. This enables an analysis if there is a strategic deployment of vulnerability by those who do not wish for strong mitigation commitments, or whether they avoid it entirely.2. Semi-structured interviews with delegates and civil society actors who have attended the COPs and who are identified as key users of the vulnerability discourse through documentary analysis. 3. Observations of a COP: how the UNFCCC works in practice and how vulnerability is deployed and performed. This process will include observing accessible meetings and speeches, but also observation of surrounding civil society actions such as protests and artistic displays. Whilst much of what happens at COPs is documented, direct observation would be of great advantage to this project. The performance of speeches is as important as their content and observation will help me understand how vulnerability is performed and received in practice.