From disaster to devastation: drought as war in northern Uganda

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Climate Change Studies
• Sociology

Background:

• Current discourse frames climate change through 'disaster' narratives, linking present events to future catastrophes.
• This 'disaster' framing relies on dichotomies like future/past and global/local, obscuring deeper issues.
• Such framing can occlude the lived experiences of environmental violence in affected communities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a conceptual shift from 'disaster' to 'devastation' for understanding climate change impacts.
• To critique the dominant discourse of climate-change disaster and its limitations.
• To highlight the role of historical and ongoing human-environment interactions in climate-related suffering.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of climate change discourse.
• Critique of existing disaster frameworks.
• Case study analysis of drought in Uganda to illustrate the concept of devastation.

Main Results:

• The dominant 'disaster' discourse simplifies complex climate change impacts.
• Understanding climate change requires acknowledging long-term, multiscalar processes of devastation.
• Environmental violence and historical context are crucial for comprehending climate-affected communities' experiences.

Conclusions:

• Shifting to 'devastation' offers a more nuanced understanding of climate change's destructive consequences.
• This new framework integrates environmental violence and historical human-environment engagements.
• Recognizing devastation moves beyond simplistic disaster narratives to reveal deeper systemic issues.