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Toward a critical theory of social–ecological resilience: Maize and cattle in Southern Province, Zambia

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Abstract

Climate change threatens the lives and livelihoods of smallholder farmers throughout the global South. In order to address the challenges these farmers face, researchers and practitioners need reasonable theoretical models of how humans and the environment interact within social–ecological systems (SES). Social–ecological resilience theory has proved to be a popular model for understanding human environment relationships within SES; however, the theory lacks a sophisticated understanding of power, relying instead on outdated functionalist sociological approaches. We reconstruct social–ecological resilience theory through a case study of smallholder climate change adaptation in Southern Province, Zambia. Farmers in the region focus on cattle and maize production. Though the changing environment would seem to favor different crops and livestock, institutional (power) dynamics determine whether or not individuals have the capacity (or desire) to adapt. Our critical reconstruction provides researchers and practitioners with an improved social–ecological lens for understanding the causes and consequences of vulnerability and adaptation.

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Notes

  1. These names are pseudonyms.

  2. While translating responses during interviews, JM switched between the first and third person pronouns (e.g., “We had a difficult rainy season,” versus “She said that they had a difficult rainy season.”). When inserting quotes here, we have chosen to use the first person exclusively. Brackets indicate where these changes have occurred.

  3. At the community level, Ichani and Amenshi Villages exist in separate SES that occupy separate basins of attraction. For the purposes of this explanation, the villages’ experiences are similar enough that we refer simply to one former basin of attraction and one current basin of attraction.

  4. These names are pseudonyms.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank the Center for International Forestry Research for facilitating our research on this paper and the Rural Sociological Society and the Paul D. Coverdell Fellowship for funding this research. We would also like to thank Dr. C. Clare Hinrichs for investing considerable time and care into making this researching and writing of this paper possible. We also want to thank the communities for hosting us and contributing their time and knowledge to this research effort.

Funding

This research was made possible by grant funding from the Rural Sociological Society and through the Paul D. Coverdell Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Park, 201 Old Main, State College, PA, 16802, USA

    Forrest Stagner

  2. Lusaka, Zambia

    Jive Mulundano

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  1. Forrest Stagner
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Correspondence to Forrest Stagner.

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Stagner, F., Mulundano, J. Toward a critical theory of social–ecological resilience: Maize and cattle in Southern Province, Zambia. Ambio (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02013-8

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