Shallow wells provide protective irrigation during in-season dry spells.But these coping strategies may not work in an agricultural system thatis intensifying towards water-intensive cash crops. There is growing concern that climate change adaptation may have \'somehow lost its edge...lost its spunk and it became just another term for development\'. My own research from Pratapgarh, a tribal-dominatedContinue reading "Shifting the discourse from adaptation to transformational adaptation"
Link Pack #6: Rural landscapes, M&E for climate change adaptation
Video: Stumbled upon an interesting repository of images from the British Empire at Colonial Film. Each video is accompanied by an analysis which is quite useful. Watching one 1943 video In Rural Maharashtra, I was struck by how effectively the role of women in an agricultural household was portrayed. Another interesting insight was corn being calledContinue reading "Link Pack #6: Rural landscapes, M&E for climate change adaptation"
Book Review: Water Resource Management in a Vulnerable World
Access to water is poised to be the issue future wars will be fought over, especially in the context of global climate change and its current and projected impacts. In Water Resource Management in a Vulnerable World: the hydro-hazardscapes of climate change, Daanish Mustafa, a Reader in Human Geography at King’s College, London, argues that the mostContinue reading "Book Review: Water Resource Management in a Vulnerable World"
Book Review: Reclaiming Development by Ha-Joon Chang and Ilene Grabel
Reclaiming Development was not an easy book for me to read. It made me uncomfortable in a way only a book aiming to question the status quo can. From the beginning, it grasped my attention in a bold, \'here is our argument and this is why it is important enough for you to listen toContinue reading "Book Review: Reclaiming Development by Ha-Joon Chang and Ilene Grabel"
Link Pack #5: Hydro-hazardscapes, waste management and mainstreaming CC adaptation
Book: I am reading the latest book by Daanish Mustafa (Reader, Geography at King\'s College, London) \'Water Resource Management in a Vulnerable World: The Hydro-hazardscapes of Climate Change\'. He introduces the concept of \'hydro-hazardscapes\' to effectively capture the non-economic, socio-cultural values of water as well as emphasise the different constructions of threat as perceived by different stakeholders by usingContinue reading "Link Pack #5: Hydro-hazardscapes, waste management and mainstreaming CC adaptation"
PhD Tips: Second Year or Fieldwork as a Planned Adventure
When I wrote out tips for First year PhD students, I didn\'t realise it would become the most viewed post on my blog (nearly 1200 views to date!). Between picking up a new job, relocating back to India, and getting used to post-PhD life (who knew I\'d miss it so?!), I found myself going throughContinue reading "PhD Tips: Second Year or Fieldwork as a Planned Adventure"
Link Pack #4: Development economics, constructions of climate change
Book: Zed books, one of my favourite publishers, recently reissued several pivotal books under their Critique Influence Change Series. I just finished the incredibly provocative and engrossing \'Reclaiming Development\' by Ha-Joon Chang and Ilene Grabel which makes a compelling case against neoliberal hegemony and maps out alternative economic instruments that can usher in stable, sustainable, and equitableContinue reading "Link Pack #4: Development economics, constructions of climate change"
Book Review: Food Security and Sociopolitical Stability edited by CB Barrett
Global food price spikes in 2008 and again in 2011 coincided with a surge of political unrest in low- and middle-income countries. In some places, food riots turned violent, pressuring governments and in a few cases contributed to their overthrow. Foreign investors sparked a new global land rush, adding a different set of pressures, andContinue reading "Book Review: Food Security and Sociopolitical Stability edited by CB Barrett"
PhD Tips: First Year or Becoming a Researcher
The pre-viva thesis ready for bindingI recently defended my thesis successfully. That I can call myself Dr. Singh is both an exhilarating and alarming feeling. What a way to end the year! As 2013 drew to a close,I reflected on my doctoral journey and realised what a beautiful, nerve-racking, stimulating, and tumultuous journey it has been: completeContinue reading "PhD Tips: First Year or Becoming a Researcher"
Link Pack #3: Social learning, climate change, new book on State regulation
Sustainable development through social learning: A new paper in Nature Climate Change posits that wicked problems like climate change can greatly benefit from social learning approaches because they foster iterative, collaborative and participatory learning. An open access version of the paper is here.Ed Carr\'s blog: I have read several of Carr\'s papers and was really gladContinue reading "Link Pack #3: Social learning, climate change, new book on State regulation"
Chandni Singh 