The politics of women’s lives: gendered re-presentations in Bangladesh’s climate change adaptation regime

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bangladesh is transitioning into a middle-income country but remains at risk from the negative impacts of climate change. Consequently, development efforts are gradually being replaced by climate change adaptation. In this article, I investigate how ‘gender’ is understood and conceptualized in climate change adaptation in Bangladesh, and what this means for how gender considerations are included in adaptation efforts. I build on qualitative interviews with representatives of what Kasia Paprocki has coined the ‘climate change adaptation regime’ in Dhaka, as well as participant observation at conferences, seminars, and meetings on issues relevant to gender and climate change adaptation in Bangladesh. Understanding adaptation to be political and contested, I argue that established representations of women in development and disaster thinking are now re-presented to fit with the politically negotiated consensus of what adaptation in Bangladesh should look like, and that gender mainstreaming initiatives which go beyond the understanding of adaptation as negotiated by this consensus are excluded. This may lead to increased responsibilities for women, feminizing the responsibility to adapt to climate change.