ABSTRACT
This chapter goes back to the main research question which guided the study: What lock-ins can explain adaptation deficits that are particularly apparent in high uneven vulnerability to climate change? What factors can explain why vulnerability is such a deeply rooted phenomenon across two different political systems and adaptation occurring only incrementally? The chapter revisits the main findings and contributions. Core contributions lie in the emerging perspective of adaptation lock-ins, which examine the interrelation of path-dependent factors that hamper adaptation action. Another contribution lies in critical adaptation studies by exploring the (vulnerability) parameters against which adaptation action operates. Factors that determine, recreate and maintain vulnerability were examined and how they interrelate with questions of power. The book also contributes to recent studies on the politics of adaptation, which is slowly becoming an evolving item of research. The core argument presented is that adaptation lock-ins in the sense of addressing social vulnerability are deeply connected with questions of social justice. In the examined cases, issues related to knowledge production, the (lack of) power to frame dominant discourses on vulnerability and little awareness about the social dimension due to path-dependent knowledge patterns focused on engineering solutions and green infrastructure were detected. The chapter ends with allies for future research.
