Threatening Dystopias: The Global Politics of Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh

271 Pages·2021·10.281 MB·English

by  Kasia Paprocki

THREATENING
DYSTOPIAS
A Volume in the Series
Cornell Series on Land: New Perspectives in Territory,
Development, and Environment
Edited by Wendy Wolford, Nancy Peluso, and Michael Goldman
A list of titles in this series is available at cornellpress. cornell . edu.
THREATENING
DYSTOPIAS
The Global Politics of Climate
Change Adaptation in Bangladesh
Kasia Paprocki
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS ITHACA AND LONDON
Copyright © 2021 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts
thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing
from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press,
Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our
website at cornellpress . cornell . edu.
First published 2021 by Cornell University Press
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Paprocki, Kasia, author.
Title: Threatening dystopias: the global politics of climate change adaptation in
Bangladesh / Kasia Paprocki.
Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2021. | Series: Cornell
series on land: new perspectives in territory, development, and environment |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021011479 (print) | LCCN 2021011480 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501759154 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501759161 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781501759178 (pdf) | ISBN 9781501759185 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Climatic changes—Political aspects—Bangladesh. | Climatic
changes—Economic aspects—Bangladesh. | Climatic changes—Social
aspects—Bangladesh. | Climatic changes—Political aspects. | Climatic changes—
Economic aspects. | Climatic changes—Social aspects.
Classification: LCC QC903.2.B3 P37 2021 (print) | LCC QC903.2.B3 (ebook) |
DDC 363.738/74561095492—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021011479
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021011480
To the memories of Karunamoyee Sardar and Xulhaz Mannan,
and to the brave activists who honor them by continuing their strugg les

Contents
Acknowl edgments ix
List of Acronyms xiii
Introduction 1
1. “Sluttish, Careless, Rotting Abundance”:
Prehistories of a Climate Dystopia 23
2. Threatening Dystopias: Development and
Adaptation Regimes 52
3. Opportunity/Crisis: Knowledge Production and
the Politics of Uncertainty 78
4. The Social Life of Climate Science: Circulations of
Knowledge and Uncertainty in Development Practice 98
5. Autopsy of a Village: Agrarian Change a fter the
Shrimp Boom 118
6. “We Have Come This Far—W e Cannot Retreat”:
Adaptation, Re sis tance, and Competing Visions
of Transformed Futures 158
Conclusion: Climate Justice and the Politics of Possibility 190
Methodological Appendix 199
Glossary 205
Notes 207
Bibliography 219
Index 245

Acknowle dgments
My first thanks go to the members and organizers of Nijera Kori, to whom I owe
the greatest debt for their boundless generosity in teaching me about development,
agrarian change, social mobilization, and their own day-t o-d ay strugg les over the
power to shape each of these. I first visited Khulna in 2012 at the urging of Nijera
Kori organizers. I thank them for leading me to this proje ct and to my initial ques-
tions. I have used pseudonyms to refer to Nijera Kori members throughout the
book, and thus, unfortunately, I am unable to thank them h ere by name. I feel a
tremendous debt to several individuals personally as well as the movement as a col-
lective. They welcomed me into their communities and their lives, gave me their
time and ample fresh green coconuts, and taught me how to plant rice—(and w ere
good-n atured about the sloppy results). I hope that I have honored t hese members
and the Nijera Kori staff in Paikgachha, Dumuria, Khulna, and Dhaka and the ex-
periences they have shared with me in my attempts to represent them.
Among these activists, Rezanur Rahman Rose has been a treas ured research
collaborator, colleague, and friend. I have been honored to have the opportunity
to observe his work as a community org an izer in villages all over rural Bangla-
desh, from large crowds to intimate conversations. His incisive analys is, commit-
ment to au thent ic understanding, and passion for the movement have deeply
inspired me. I feel incredibly privileged to have had the opportunity for over a
dec ade to observe closely Khushi Kabir’s unparalleled leadership, determination,
and perseverance in fighting for the civil and h uman rights of women, laborers,
and rural communities. Her strength and pol itic al w ill have made me aspire me at
every step to understand better and to work harder. I w ill be forever grateful to
both Rose and Khushi for inviting me into the movement and into their families.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Social Sci-
ence Research Council, the Fulbright-H ays Program, the American Institute of
Bangladesh Studies, Inter Pares, the Department of Geography and Environment
at the London School of Economics (LSE), and the following programs at Cornell:
the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, the Mario Einaudi Center, the
Department of Development Sociology, and the South Asia Program. I received
vital support and knowledge from several librarians and archivists at the National
Library, Kolkata; the National Archives of India in Delhi; the Center for Environ-
mental and Geographic Information Serv ices (CEGIS) in Dhaka; the library at the
Institute of Water and Flood Management at Bangladesh University of Engineering
ix