Adaptation, Poverty and Development: The Dynamics of Subjective Well-Being Edited by David Alexander Clark
With a Foreword by David Hulme
ISBN 9780230360563
Palgrave Macmillan
April 2012
In contrast to previous attempts to examine adaptation to climate change in developing countries, the authors focus on how individuals and broader social groups adjust their aspirations, mental states, social values and behaviour and practices in response to changes in their personal and social circumstances. Employing a unique blend of cross disciplinary work from economics, psychology, sociology and philosophy this innovative book draws on quantitative and qualitative techniques. The book is divided into three parts that deal with conceptual issues, empirical studies and specific topics (gender, disability, migration) relating to adaptation in developing countries. It includes detailed case studies of adaptation in China, Ethiopia, India and South Africa and underlines the case for listening to the poor by suggesting that people who become worse off are less likely to lower their aspirations – or restrict their values – than is commonly thought by some philosophers and social scientists.