Cumulative adaptation and linkages among adaptation, coping and vulnerability: a case of riverside slum households in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Abstract

Adaptation and coping have been frequently compared. However, their relationship is still in dispute. So far, three approaches have been suggested: interchangeable, distinct and interrelated. We argue that the third is the most useful as it provides insights into how long-term adaptation can be achieved by a series of short-term coping mechanisms. Within this focus, we interpret adaptation in a novel way: as a complex cumulative result based on the interaction between multiple coping mechanisms and vulnerability dynamics. As such we reorient Smit et al.’s work on “cumulative adaptation”. Our empirical case is slum households affected by floods from the Mekong River in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The inquiry is based on 119 surveys and 25 semi-structured interviews in nine slum communities. The results capture new trajectories of adaptation (or maladaptation), livelihoods and local collective action. The article explores implications for local development in slum communities in the global South.