Available At: PULSE: the Journal of Science and Culture, Volume 12 (2025).
Audio Essay
What Does It Mean to Be Resilient to Climate Change? Just Climate Audio Essay in Three Parts
Authors: Ian M. Cook, Andrea J. Nightingale, Noémi Gonda, Gyanu Maskey, Dil Khatri, Siri H.E. Eriksen, Ben Muok, Edwige P. Marty, and Pierre Merlet
Abstract
What does it mean to be resilient to climate change? Will all societies and different members of those societies adapt to the changing environment in the same way? Should they? Can we realistically expect communities who face multiple challenges, from violence to entrenched social and political inequalities, to become even more resilient?And what might a more socially and environmentally just adaptation to climate change look like?
This audio essay, “Just Climate”, challenges conventional notions of resilience by exploring its complexities in diverse social, political, and economic contexts. Featuring insights from researchers in Nepal, Kenya, and Nicaragua, it critically examines resilience as both a concept and a lived reality for communities facing multiple forms of inequality and hardship.
The essay is structured into three parts. First, it questions whether resilience is the appropriate framework for addressing climate change. Critics argue that the term can obscure systemic inequalities by implying that marginalized communities should simply endure rather than resist and transform their conditions. Second, the discussion moves to the feasibility of climate change adaptation in regions already grappling with violence, poverty, and entrenched social injustices. It highlights how resilience is inherently shaped by power dynamics, access to resources, and historical struggles. Lastly, the essay explores what a socially and environmentally just adaptation might look like, emphasizing resilience as a process rather than an outcome. This perspective underscores collective agency, relationality social movements, and transformative change rather than mere survival strategies.
Drawing on empirical examples such as community water management in Nepal, pastoralism in Kenya, as well as coffee and cocoa farming in Nicaragua, the discussion illustrates how resilience is deeply intertwined with social relations, political structures, and economic opportunities. As such, it goes beyond conventional understandings of resilience to climate change often framed as the ability to adapt and recover from environmental disruptions. By redefining resilience as a relational process rooted in justice and equity, this audio essay contributes to broader debates on climate change adaptation and the pursuit of more just and sustainable futures.
What Does It Mean to Be Resilient to Climate Change? Just Climate Audio Essay Part One
PDF https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20162776
What Does It Mean to Be Resilient to Climate Change?: Just Climate Audio Essay Part Two
PDF https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20162820
What Does It Mean to Be Resilient to Climate Change?: Just Climate Audio Essay Part Three
PDF https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20162863
