ABSTRACT

While community-led adaptation is an increasingly important subject in both academic and development circles, the politics behind adaptation decision making receives less attention. Specifically, an absence of adaptive actions is often understood as maladaptation. This study shows how incorporating lessons from political ecology such as an analysis of historically produced socio-political structures can add value to a resilience perspective by making clearer the contextual forces that shape adaptation decision making. Using the case study of urban farming in Phnom Penh, the political reality behind adaptation decision making is explored to reveal that the decision not to adapt may be a rational response to avoid risk in a situation of significant power imbalances. This understanding is important to inform the kind of policy measures and development interventions that are appropriate to support community-led adaptation.

摘要

虽然社区主导的适应在学术界和发展界都越来越重要，但适应决策背后的政治却很少受到关注。具体来说，缺乏适应性行为通常被理解为适应不良。本研究展示了如何结合政治生态学的经验教训，例如对历史产生的社会政治结构的分析，可以通过更清晰地塑造适应决策的背景力量，为复原力视角增加价值。使用金边城市农业的案例研究，探索适应决策背后的政治现实，以揭示在权力严重失衡的情况下，不适应的决定可能是避免风险的理性反应。