The political economy of adaptation pathways to climate change : An historical institutional approach

Abstract: While there is a growing recognition of the need for societies to adapt to climate change, adaptation governance often falls short and can even worsen existing vulnerabilities. This problem is exacerbated by the deep connection between climate change and economic system governance. It underscores the importance of gaining a better understanding of how economic governance influences adaptation pathways. However, this intricate interplay remains relatively unexplored in the realms of both global governance and climate adaptation research.This thesis seeks to address this gap in the existing literature by adopting a historical political economy approach. This approach helps us comprehend how adaptation is governed within the context of historically formed 'glocalized' regimes and sheds light on why adaptation pathways may inadvertently exacerbate vulnerabilities. The research considers how vulnerabilities and adaptation pathways are deeply embedded in glocalized regimes and how historical processes constrain transformative changes while explaining instances of maladaptation. The thesis explores the argument empirically by relying on extensive fieldwork material and document analysis in three Latin American countries: Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay. These countries have economies heavily reliant on extractive sectors like mining and agriculture, which play pivotal roles in their economic histories and are associated with local vulnerabilities and socio-environmental impacts.The results suggest that climate responses are not exogenous to the glocalized capitalist regimes but adaptation pathways are, in fact, driven by extractive capitalism. Furthermore, the results show how dominant scientific frames are deployed in both the production of knowledge and the adaptation responses to climate impacts and vulnerabilities. These responses tend to marginalize discussions about the transformative changes necessary for tackling climate change and vulnerabilities under the influence of extractive capitalism. By revealing and analyzing these structural dynamics, this thesis contributes significantly to climate adaptation and global governance scholarship.