ABSTRACT
In environmentally dynamic areas of the global South, ecological uncertainty is a norm rather than an aberration. This is also true for Kutch, the second largest dryland tract in India, home to a rich and dynamic ecosystem and a culturally vibrant society. Historically a drought-prone region subject to ecological uncertainties, this chapter shows how “new” uncertainties are emerging in Kutch because of rapid ecological and economic transitions that this district has witnessed over the past two decades. This chapter argues that these transitions have exacerbated the effects of climate change, thus giving rise to radical uncertainty whereby climate change has impeded the traditional ways of coping. Furthermore, the “new” uncertainties that have emerged as a result of the changing political economy have largely limited the adaptive capacity of resource-dependent communities. While new alliances forged between different actors have intensified some capitalist growth trajectories, they are also beginning to challenge incumbent power structures as well as top-down systems of knowledge and could potentially foster pathways to social transformation.
