This book represents an original investigation employing a multidisciplinary approach to elucidate autonomous adaptation, which denotes the spontaneous responses of individuals and communities to mitigate the impacts and seize the opportunities arising from climate change in Indian contexts. It systematically examines the diverse socio-political and economic transformations precipitated by ecological shifts in villages situated across varied terrains in the Kozhikode district of Kerala, renowned as one of India's most vulnerable regions to climate change variables. Through meticulous analysis, it delineates the intricate interplay of inequality at interpersonal and communal levels within the framework of autonomous adaptation, elucidating how it catalyzes multifaceted transformations across different strata of society. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, the study integrates the analysis of district-wise meteorological data spanning over three decades with a year-long ethnographic field study conducted in three distinct villages of Kozhikode-a fishing village on the coast, an agrarian village on the plain, and a village on the Western Ghats primarily depending on plantation crops. The book provides comprehensive visual aids, including maps illustrating the varying degrees of climate change exposure across different districts in India. Furthermore, it incorporates oral history accounts, grassroots narratives, and scientific analyses to illustrate how climate-induced ecological transformations manifest differently across diverse terrains, resulting in both convergent and divergent forms of societal change. This scholarly endeavor is poised to offer invaluable insights to a wide spectrum of stakeholders, including the general public, academic scholars, and policymakers. By illuminating the ground realities of climate change impacts and elucidating the shortcomings of existing adaptation policies, the book aims to enhance collective understanding and spur informed action in addressing the pressing challenges posed by climate change. Through its rigorous analysis and accessible presentation, it serves as a critical resource for fostering evidence-based decision-making and advancing effective climate change adaptation strategies.

Autorentext

Nisar Kannangara is a social anthropologist with Ph.D. in anthropology from Pondicherry University (Central), India, in 2019, focusing on the study of democracy and violence in Kerala. Currently he is a Consultant at Academic and Research Team, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) Bengaluru. From February 2021 to March 2024, he was a postdoctoral associate at the Inequality and Human Development Programme at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru, India. Prior to joining NIAS, he held research positions at the Anthropology Research Wing of Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS) and the Directorate of Culture, Government of Kerala. His area of research includes the social and cultural dynamics of democracy and political parties, ethnographies of indigenous housing, and inequality and autonomous adaptation to climate change in South Asian contexts. He is a recipient of the prestigious British Academy Knowledge Frontier Symposia Follow-on Award in 2023. Kalaiarasi Kandhan Sagunthala is currently working at the M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai. Before this she was working as the Project Associate at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru, where she worked on the autonomous adaptation to climate change. She holds a Masters Degree in climate science and policy from TERI University, New Delhi and has done her bachelors in Geography. Her area of interest includes Climate change adaptation, food security, water conservation, and disaster management. She has also worked in the areas of gender mainstreaming in forest resource management, mapping stakeholders for devising Incentive-Based Mechanisms for natural resource management in different locations of the countries.