Extreme weather, livelihoods, and gender relations : the experiences of indigenous and Muslim forest communities in Bangladesh

Abstract

This thesis concerns the effects of Cyclone Aila, an extreme weather event that took place in 2009, on the rural livelihoods and gendered relations of two ethnically distinct forest communities "" Munda, an indigenous group, and Shora, a Muslim group "" dwelling near the Sundarbans Forest in Bangladesh. It examines the cyclone's medium- to long-term impacts on livelihoods and comparative aspects of gendered relations between these two contrasting communities. In doing so, it addresses a gap in current humanitarian and development studies. Adopting an ethnographic research design, the thesis analyses the alterations to livelihood activities and reconfiguration of gender relations within the Munda and Shora communities since 2009. The study primarily contends that post-Aila, livelihoods and gendered relations have been substantially transformed in both communities, in some similar but also some different ways. It makes the case that the improvement of local infrastructure, as an important part of the geographical location, has noticeably progressed the living conditions and livelihoods of some members of the Munda and Shora communities. There is growing acknowledgement of the gendered effects of climatic disasters and their disproportionate impacts on poor and disadvantaged communities in South Asian countries. This thesis demonstrates the importance of intersectionality and the analysis of the overlapping dimensions of gender, marital status, religion and geographical locations in the study of the gendered impacts of extreme weather events. Utilising ethnographic research, it compares livelihoods and gendered relations in two contrasting forest communities in the post-disaster setting of south-west Bangladesh. In this regard, the study contributes to scholarship on gendered livelihood, post-disaster resilience building, and the human ecology of the Sundarbans Forest. In addition, this thesis adds new knowledge about the ways in which NGOs and the intersections of gender, marital status and geographical locations contribute to post-disaster social and cultural changes to the livelihoods and gendered relations of the Munda and Shora forest communities.

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English