Assembling Multi-Temporal Resilience on the Eastern Coast of India

Abstract

This article explores how the Sundarbans residents and migrants on the eastern coast of India build multitemporal resilience. While extreme weather events have different rhythms, local governance, including climate change mitigation policies and state initiatives to manage the aftermaths of extreme weather events, also create temporalities. We analyse how people assemble these temporalities in their quest for more secure livelihoods and housing. By examining two interrelated practices – waiting and establishing patronage relationships – we argue, first, that resilience is not built by isolated individuals or communities; instead, it is relational and multitemporal. Second, we contribute to the questioning of climate reductionism and climate reductionist understandings of resilience by showing that people not only build resilience to climate change impacts and environmental changes but also policies and power structures. Third, we contend that lived resilience is not merely about coping but also encompasses the ability to develop critical discourses and influence governance.