Navigating justice in climate adaptation: Gender and class complexities under neo-liberal development in the Sundarbans delta of Bangladesh

Climate justice is attracting increasing attention from both scholars and practitioners, becoming an important topic in the climate change discourse. Narratives around climate justice consistently highlight the risks, vulnerabilities, and disproportionate burdens borne by communities in the Global South-despite their minimal contributions to climate change. For these at-risk communities, adaptation is an urgent need. However, we argue that both climate change and the process of adaptation can generate unequal outcomes, often leaving these communities to navigate difficult social-ecological trade-offs and further injustices. Over the past decade, a growing body of scholarly and non-academic literature has explored various dimensions of the nexus between development, gender, and climate change. However, what remains rarely addressed is how climate change adaptation relates to transforming socio-political relations from a combined feminist (intersectional) and justice perspective. Climate change discussions urge integrating justice, while feminist scholars argue that climate justice cannot be fully effective or equitable without incorporating feminist perspectives. Combining feminist and justice perspectives, the paper explores the implications of climate change adaptation mechanisms in the Sundarbans delta of Bangladesh and the possibilities for just transition. We focus on how different climate change adaptation interventions can lead to (re)negotiation and both challenge and reinforce gender and class in society in that region. The empirical investigation is based on qualitative research, including interviews, group discussions, participant observations, and the use of photo voice, conducted in three different phases between 2019 and 2024. The findings of the paper show how interventions for climate change adaptation are entangled with a neo-liberal development agenda. The state demonstrates a paradoxical character as it endeavors to reconcile the drive for swift economic expansion with the execution of comprehensive adaptation and development interventions. These, consequently, contribute to changing socio-political (gender and class) structures and relations in the Sundarbans delta by reproducing heteronormative and capitalistic norms and practices.