Life in a shrimp zone: aqua- and other cultures of Bangladesh's coastal landscape

Paprocki, Kasia; Cons, Jason

doi:10.1080/03066150.2014.937709

Cited by 98 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…This 'blue revolution' was not unique to Bangladesh; export oriented aquaculture transitions were promoted in poor indebted countries by international financial institutions to foster economic growth and food sovereignty (Pokrant 2014;Nuruzzaman 2006). Commodification of peasant livelihoods brought about by these neoliberal policies resulted in new forms of capitalist accumulation and reshaped class relations in rural Bangladesh (Paprocki and Cons 2014). The social, political and environmental effects of such agrarian transitions have been well documented in the sociology and development literature, often dichotomising the society into poor and nonpoor or providing descriptive narratives at aggregate level (Belton 2016;Adnan 2013;Swapan and Gavin 2011;Islam 2008).…”

Section: Electronic Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential livelihood adaptation to social-ecological change in coastal Bangladesh

2017

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Social-ecological changes, brought about by the rapid growth of the aquaculture industry and the increased occurrence of climatic stressors, have significantly affected the livelihoods of coastal communities in Asian mega-deltas. This paper explores the livelihood adaptation responses of households of different wealth classes, the heterogeneous adaptation opportunities, barriers and limits (OBLs) faced by these households and the dynamic ways in which these factors interact to enhance or impede adaptive capacities. A mixed methods approach was used to collect empirical evidence from two villages in coastal Bangladesh. Findings reveal that households' adaptive capacities largely depend on their wealth status, which not only determine their availability of productive resources, but also empower them to navigate social-ecological change in desirable ways. Households operate within a shared response space, which is shaped by the broader socio-economic and political landscape, as well as their previous decisions that can lock them in to particular pathways. While an adaptive response may be effective for one social group, it may cause negative externalities that can undermine the adaptation options and outcomes of another group. Adaptation OBLs interact in complex ways; the extent to which these OBLs affect different households depend on the specific livelihood activities being considered and the differential values and interests they hold. To ensure more equitable and environmentally sustainable livelihoods in future, policies and programs should aim to expand households' adaptation space by accounting for the heterogeneous needs and complex interdependencies between response processes of different groups.

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Section: Electronic Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential livelihood adaptation to social-ecological change in coastal Bangladesh

2017

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“…On the contrary, as the contribution by Paprocki and Cons indicates, this transformation can exacerbate other sorts of problems. Based on a carefully controlled study of two polders in Bangladesh -one subsistenceoriented and the other entirely given over to shrimp aquaculture -they argue that food sovereignty permits 'a full spectrum of agrarian classes to continue to be peasants, though it does not necessarily yield greater equality in agrarian class relations' (Paprocki andCons 2014, 1111). In particular, despite some food sovereignty advocates' claims to the contrary, they suggest that the implementation of food sovereignty per se does little to address problems of landlessness.…”

Section: Origins Of 'Food Sovereignty'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: critical perspectives on food sovereignty

Edelman¹,

Weis²,

Baviskar³

et al. 2014

The Journal of Peasant Studies

214

104

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“…For example, politically influential shrimp farmers often expanded their shrimp ponds by systematically and wrongfully subjugating agricultural farmers to convert their agricultural lands. Paprocki and Cons (2014), as an illustration, reported that in polder 20 and 23, sluice gates were taken over and embankments were cut in places to inundate fertile lands, and thus poor agricultural farmers were evicted and their lands were usurped (see also Gain 1995, Ito 2002. Another example is the unemployment issue caused by CSF.…”

Section: Analysis Iii: Commercial Shrimp Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robust-yet-fragile nature of partly engineered social-ecological systems: a case study of coastal Bangladesh

Ishtiaque¹,

Sangwan²,

Yu³

2017

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Modern social-ecological systems are often partly engineered to enhance the robustness (or reduce the variance) of human welfare to environmental fluctuations over a foreseeable time horizon. Recent studies show, however, that subtle trade-offs are usually inherent in such efforts of enhancing short-term robustness. Managing variance on short time scales is likely to be associated with the buildup of hidden fragilities on longer time scales. Using a flood-prone social-ecological system (SES) of coastal Bangladesh as an example, this paper investigates some of the ways in which such robustness-fragility trade-offs can manifest. This SES has been extensively modified in the last few decades through the construction of large-scale flood protection structures (polders) and the introduction of commercial shrimp farming to enhance the robustness of food production to hydrological variability. Our case study analysis of the long-term changes in the SES shows that, although the modifications helped with stability in short time scales, the resulting changes also induced unforeseen problems such as infrastructure maintenance issues, land degradation and sinking, and exposure to market volatility. With this paper therefore we contribute to better understanding of the notion of robustness-fragility trade-offs by illustrating an exemplary case of the phenomenon in the engineered coastal environment context.

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Life in a shrimp zone: aqua- and other cultures of Bangladesh's coastal landscape

Cited by 98 publications

References 67 publications

Differential livelihood adaptation to social-ecological change in coastal Bangladesh

Differential livelihood adaptation to social-ecological change in coastal Bangladesh

Introduction: critical perspectives on food sovereignty

Robust-yet-fragile nature of partly engineered social-ecological systems: a case study of coastal Bangladesh

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