The Politics of Learning Processes in Adaptation

Literature highlights the significance of knowledge and learning processes as part of adaptation to achieve transformation of socio-political systems that drive vulnerability. Academics and practitioners advocate to acknowledge the socio-political aspect of adaptation interventions to avoid maladaptation. Decision making processes in adaptation demand exercising power by contesting or complying with predominant knowledge, authority and subjectivity. Evaluations of adaptation interventions demonstrates how power tends to comply with predominant structures and retrofit adaptation into the dominant top-down development approach, favoring expert knowledge and marginalizing local knowledge. Though literature highlights the need to acknowledge socio-political aspects, adaptation interventions tend to continue to exacerbate marginalization of already vulnerable populations. Expanding literature therefore poses the question whether academics and practitioners need to take a post adaptation turn related to post development, by embracing the pluralism of knowledges about adaptation while critically interrogating how these knowledges form part of the politics of adaptation and the processes that (re)produce vulnerability. 

Following these thoughts, C-Hub strives to be a platform to engage in the learning processes by making space for reflection and safe sharing of plurality of knowledge.