Relational geographies of climate maladaptation: agrarian change and emergent vulnerabilities in rural Maharashtra, India

Climate maladaptation is a pressing challenge across regions and sectors. Adaptation responses can “rebound” (self-inflict), “redistribute” (shift) or “reinforce” (deepen) climate-related risks. Responses may be characterized, in part or in whole, as climate maladaptive when they induce risks along one or more of these pathways. We suggest climate maladaptation can also be articulated as a relational space. This approach emphasizes how changing relations and contexts coproduce adaptations that can unevenly create or deepen climate risks. It complements existing assessment efforts, which often focus on a specific adaptation initiative with the goal of characterizing its adaptive and maladaptive effects. We draw data from an exploratory study identifying societal risks associated with (climate) adaptation strategies in Dabli village in eastern Maharashtra, India. Sixteen semi-structured interviews with female and male farmers from marginalized and privileged caste backgrounds were conducted during the 2023 monsoon season. Agrarian change processes have benefitted some farmers and rendered others to the margins, whose struggles to adapt to climate and socio-ecological changes reflect their economic, cultural, and identity-based exclusions. More pointedly, the long-term reconfiguration of socionatural relations—how people, institutions, and environments are tied together—has given rise to adaptations that can heighten climate risks and uncertainties.