Entanglements of climate change and conflict: climate change adaptation in post-war Sri Lanka

这个项目是关于气候变化、冲突以及它们如何在战后的斯里兰卡纠缠在一起的。目前还没有关于受国内冲突影响的社区中气候变化的社会生活或适应过程的人种学研究。这项研究将通过对斯里兰卡干旱地区气候变化适应干预的人种学研究来解决这一问题--斯里兰卡干旱地区是一个种族冲突悬而未决的地方，已经经历了气候变化的影响。这项研究将在气候变化人类学、风险和危险的理论(Beck 2007；Douglas 1992)、斯里兰卡‘种族’冲突的分析(Tbiah 1986)和考虑灾难政治化的文献(Simpson 2014)之间建立联系。通过这样做，它试图超越现有的关于西方“生活在否认中”的人种学描述(Norgaard 2011)和对全球南方气候变化的文化限制解释(Lipset 2011；Rudiak-Gould 2013)。研究问题1)泰米尔族和僧伽罗族斯里兰卡人在暴力冲突后如何看待气候变化的风险？2)种族冲突将在多大程度上围绕适应过程凝聚或消散？3)冲突遗留问题将以何种方式塑造适应政策？干旱地区混合族裔社区研究的方法和时间表目前是3800万美元干预的目标，这将构成本研究的背景。这项干预由斯里兰卡政府发起，由绿色气候基金和联合国开发计划署(开发计划署)共同出资。总的来说，它的目标是“加强干旱地区小农对气候变化和极端事件的适应能力”(联合国开发计划署，2017年)，强调种族间合作的必要性。第一年，我一直在改进我的研究问题，并在SOAS人类学研究方法硕士期间接受进一步的方法培训。我也一直在学习僧伽罗语和泰米尔语。根据上述研究问题，在斯里兰卡进行为期2-3 12个月的实地考察将采用以下方法。1)在科伦坡接受两个月的语言培训后，我将花七个月的时间在干预目标的两个社区进行人种学田野调查：一个在阿努拉达普拉地区，僧伽罗人在那里占多数，另一个在瓦武尼亚，泰米尔人在那里。通过对日常生活的参与者观察和对僧伽罗人和泰米尔人村民的深入访谈，研究将侧重于个人和集体对冲突的记忆、该地区农村发展的历史、对气候变化的看法，以及对过去创伤的记忆如何影响对气候风险的看法。2)通过参加合作的社区适应活动并研究其在社区内的管理，将从人种学的角度研究围绕适应过程的种族紧张的程度。3)剩下的三个月将用于在科伦坡对决策进行参与式观察。我将参加环保非政府组织和政策制定者的研讨会和圆桌会议，研究政策文件，并采访当地的环境活动家和气候科学家。3-4年，我将写下我的调查结果，并将其分发给科伦坡的利益相关者和更广泛的发展社区。这项研究的结果将与当地政策制定者直接相关，如斯里兰卡政府马哈韦利发展和环境部、当地执行非政府组织和国际开发机构(IWMI、绿色气候基金、联合国开发计划署)。我将在设计阶段让这些参与者参与进来，目的是让他们成为项目的利益相关者，并实现项目的完成。

This project is about climate change, conflict and how they are entangled in post-war Sri Lanka. There are currently no ethnographic studies of the social life of climate change, or the process of adaptation, in communities affected by civil conflict. This study will address this through ethnographic research of a climate change adaptation intervention in Sri Lanka's Dry Zone - a site of unresolved ethnic conflict, already experiencing the effects of climate change. This research will form links between the anthropology of climate change, theorisations of risk and danger (Beck 2007; Douglas 1992), analyses of Sri Lanka's 'ethnic' conflict (Tambiah 1986) and literature considering the politicisation of disaster (Simpson 2014). In doing so, it seeks to move beyond existing ethnographic accounts of 'living in denial' in the West (Norgaard 2011) and culturally-bound interpretations of climate change in the Global South (Lipset 2011; Rudiak-Gould 2013). Research Questions 1) How is the risk of climate change perceived by Tamil and Sinhalese Sri Lankans in the wake of a violent conflict? 2) To what extent will ethnic conflict coalesce around, or be dissipated by, the process of adaptation? 3) In what ways will the legacies of the conflict shape adaptation policy? Methodology and Timetable of Research Mixed-ethnic communities in the Dry Zone that are currently being targeted by a $38,000,000 intervention will form the context of this study. This intervention was initiated by the Sri Lankan government and is co-funded by the Green Climate Fund and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Broadly, it aims to 'strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers in the Dry Zone to climate variability and extreme events' (UNDP 2017), with emphasis on the necessity of inter-ethnic co-operation. Year 1 I have been refining my research questions and receiving further methods training during the MA in Anthropological Research Methods at SOAS. I have also been learning Sinhala and Tamil. Years 2-3 12 months of fieldwork in Sri Lanka will deploy the following methods, corresponding to the research questions outlined above. 1) After two months of language training in Colombo, I will spend seven months conducting ethnographic fieldwork in two communities targeted by the intervention: one in the district of Anuradhapura, where the Sinhalese form the ethnic majority, and one in Vavuniya, where the Tamils do. Through participant observation of daily life and in-depth interviews with Sinhalese and Tamil villagers, research will focus on individual and collective memories of the conflict, the history of rural development in the area, perceptions of the changing climate, and the ways in which memories of past traumas shape the perception of climate-based risk. 2) By taking part in co-operative community adaptation activities and studying their management within the community, the extent to which ethnic tension coalesces around the process of adaptation will be studied ethnographically. 3) The remaining three months will be spent conducting participant observation of policymaking in Colombo. I will attend workshops and roundtable events for environmental NGOs and policymakers, study policy documents, and interview local environmental activists and climate scientists. Years 3-4 I will write-up my findings and disseminate them to stakeholders in Colombo and the wider development community. The findings of this study will be of direct relevance to local policymakers such as the Sri Lankan government's Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment, local implementing NGOs and international development agencies (IWMI, Green Climate Fund, United Nations Development Programme). I will engage these actors during the design phase, with the aim that they become stakeholders in the project and implements its finings.