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Gender, Development, and Rights-Based Approaches: Lessons for Climate Change Adaptation and Adaptive Social Protection

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Research, Action and Policy: Addressing the Gendered Impacts of Climate Change

Abstract

As adaptation policies increasingly aim to recognize the agency and autonomy of marginalized groups, the push for gender-sensitive climate change policy is also gaining voice and visibility. This shift is akin to the growing popularity of rights-based approaches to development, suggesting that lessons can be drawn from previous gender and development debates to inform adaptation policy and practices. In this chapter, we explore the nexus between gender, development, and right-based approaches in order to highlight the possibilities and pitfalls of such an approach to adaptation. We examine recent (adaptive) social protection programs to understand the potential of rights-based approaches to build capacity and enhance resilience under climate change. Finally, by emphasizing social responsibilities to and for others, we indicate the opening of spaces for a more inclusive social project for promoting adaptation that values differential skills, assets, expertise, and voices while acknowledging the limits of autonomous actors in adaptation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Josef Korbel School of International Development, University of Denver, 2201 S Gaylord St., Denver, CO, 80208, USA

    Beth Bee Ph.D.

  2. Department of Geography, Pennsylvania State University, 302 Walker Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Maureen Biermann M.S & Petra Tschakert Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Beth Bee Ph.D.
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  2. Maureen Biermann M.S
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  3. Petra Tschakert Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Beth Bee Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Social Work, Monash University, Dandenong Road 900, Caulfield East, 3145, Victoria, Australia

    Margaret Alston

  2. , Department of Social Work, Monash University, Dandenong Road 900, Caulfield East, 3145, Victoria, Australia

    Kerri Whittenbury

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Bee, B., Biermann, M., Tschakert, P. (2013). Gender, Development, and Rights-Based Approaches: Lessons for Climate Change Adaptation and Adaptive Social Protection. In: Alston, M., Whittenbury, K. (eds) Research, Action and Policy: Addressing the Gendered Impacts of Climate Change. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5518-5_7

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