Vulnerability and Resistance: a discourse analysis of power in global climate politics
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Social Sciences
Abstract
Research Plan
An analysis of vulnerability discourse within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COPs), focussing on the contested representation of the so-called 'small island developing states' (SIDS) as inherently vulnerable, in contrast to their powerful and vocal resistance to inadequate climate action.
Using critical feminist, political economy and anti-colonial approaches enables a richer understanding of power than traditional IR approaches, and allows an examination of the language within the UNFCCC as a site of struggle. Vulnerability discourse is ultimately seen as a loaded concept, but one with the potential for island states to appropriate and use to strengthen their case in the UNFCCC.
Literature review of vulnerability
3 main strands of thought reflect the conceptual confusion which surrounds vulnerability. Within the intergovernmental climate change organisations, the term is mostly used uncritically and treated as measurable. In geography, scholars are more concerned with the implications of the term. A feminist critique finds that "vulnerability or virtuousness can deflect attention from inequalities in decision making" (Arora-Jonsson 2010:744). Framing island states as weak and peripheral feminises and subordinates them to the "masculine technical and expert knowledge" (Arora-Jonsson 2010:750) brought to the negotiations by the wealthy emitter states. Vulnerability discourse then, serves to naturalise their loss, shifting blame away from mitigation.
Finally, IR offers a cosmopolitan understanding, in which the vulnerability to harm that humans share is one of "the most readily available points of solidarity between strangers" (Linklater 2010:155). However, the dehumanisation of others can negate the effect, leaving "certain bodies more vulnerable than others" (Gregory 2015:1). The struggle over the identity and vulnerability in the UNFCCC seen in this context has implications for global discourses beyond island states, especially as a counter to the security discourse of climate change as inevitably conflictual.
Key Questions and Methods
1. How has vulnerability been used historically in the UNFCCC?
2. How is vulnerability discourse deployed by different actors in the UNFCCC?
3. How has the use of the vulnerability concept changed over time within climate discourse and what implications does this have for climate action?
1. Documentary analysis of vulnerability discourse in the speeches and government submissions made in the COPs, as well as the treaties made since the creation of the UNFCCC, to trace the growth of the discourse and to see who is using it and how.
The focus is on key moments in the history of the UNFCCC, and especially on AOSIS as a group, as well as its member states, and the low ambition groups. This enables an analysis if there is a strategic deployment of vulnerability by those who do not wish for strong mitigation commitments, or whether they avoid it entirely.
2. Semi-structured interviews with delegates and civil society actors who have attended the COPs and who are identified as key users of the vulnerability discourse through documentary analysis.
3. Observations of a COP: how the UNFCCC works in practice and how vulnerability is deployed and performed. This process will include observing accessible meetings and speeches, but also observation of surrounding civil society actions such as protests and artistic displays. Whilst much of what happens at COPs is documented, direct observation would be of great advantage to this project. The performance of speeches is as important as their content and observation will help me understand how vulnerability is performed and received in practice.
An analysis of vulnerability discourse within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COPs), focussing on the contested representation of the so-called 'small island developing states' (SIDS) as inherently vulnerable, in contrast to their powerful and vocal resistance to inadequate climate action.
Using critical feminist, political economy and anti-colonial approaches enables a richer understanding of power than traditional IR approaches, and allows an examination of the language within the UNFCCC as a site of struggle. Vulnerability discourse is ultimately seen as a loaded concept, but one with the potential for island states to appropriate and use to strengthen their case in the UNFCCC.
Literature review of vulnerability
3 main strands of thought reflect the conceptual confusion which surrounds vulnerability. Within the intergovernmental climate change organisations, the term is mostly used uncritically and treated as measurable. In geography, scholars are more concerned with the implications of the term. A feminist critique finds that "vulnerability or virtuousness can deflect attention from inequalities in decision making" (Arora-Jonsson 2010:744). Framing island states as weak and peripheral feminises and subordinates them to the "masculine technical and expert knowledge" (Arora-Jonsson 2010:750) brought to the negotiations by the wealthy emitter states. Vulnerability discourse then, serves to naturalise their loss, shifting blame away from mitigation.
Finally, IR offers a cosmopolitan understanding, in which the vulnerability to harm that humans share is one of "the most readily available points of solidarity between strangers" (Linklater 2010:155). However, the dehumanisation of others can negate the effect, leaving "certain bodies more vulnerable than others" (Gregory 2015:1). The struggle over the identity and vulnerability in the UNFCCC seen in this context has implications for global discourses beyond island states, especially as a counter to the security discourse of climate change as inevitably conflictual.
Key Questions and Methods
1. How has vulnerability been used historically in the UNFCCC?
2. How is vulnerability discourse deployed by different actors in the UNFCCC?
3. How has the use of the vulnerability concept changed over time within climate discourse and what implications does this have for climate action?
1. Documentary analysis of vulnerability discourse in the speeches and government submissions made in the COPs, as well as the treaties made since the creation of the UNFCCC, to trace the growth of the discourse and to see who is using it and how.
The focus is on key moments in the history of the UNFCCC, and especially on AOSIS as a group, as well as its member states, and the low ambition groups. This enables an analysis if there is a strategic deployment of vulnerability by those who do not wish for strong mitigation commitments, or whether they avoid it entirely.
2. Semi-structured interviews with delegates and civil society actors who have attended the COPs and who are identified as key users of the vulnerability discourse through documentary analysis.
3. Observations of a COP: how the UNFCCC works in practice and how vulnerability is deployed and performed. This process will include observing accessible meetings and speeches, but also observation of surrounding civil society actions such as protests and artistic displays. Whilst much of what happens at COPs is documented, direct observation would be of great advantage to this project. The performance of speeches is as important as their content and observation will help me understand how vulnerability is performed and received in practice.
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000665/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2072894 | Studentship | ES/P000665/1 | 01/10/2018 | 30/12/2022 | Charlotte Weatherill |