Ana Maria Vargas is one of the researchers in the project "Everyday forms of resistance to state adaptation regulation: An ethnographic study of responses in informal settlements". In Cartagena, Colombia, she studied an informal settlement, where residents face severe flood risks. The law declares the area a high-risk zone, forbidding improvements and urging the dismantling of all homes. However, the residents have a different vision of climate adaptation. They resist legal restrictions. They mobilised local organisations, planted mangroves to stabilise the coastline, and demanded better living conditions. This is a social and legal resistance - a defiance against laws that they feel strip them of their dignity and rights. For them, climate adaptation is not about compliance. It is about justice, the right to stay and protection from climate laws.
The 4-minute video below shows the researchers' exploration of how resistance to climate adaptation laws reveals critical insights for shaping climate justice. Through examples like Cartagena, it highlights how top-down policies often overlook local needs, histories, and rights, sparking resistance from affected communities. It demonstrates how everyday acts of defiance—whether quiet or organized—challenge unjust systems, assert autonomy, and demand equity. Rather than being obstructive, this resistance provides valuable knowledge about local priorities and paves the way for more inclusive and just climate policies.
Research Team:
Ana Maria Vargas, Senior Lecturer at the Sociology of Law Department
Ebba Brink, Post-doctoral researcher at Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies
Emily Boyd, Professor in Sustainability Science at Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies
Film credits:
Catrin Jakobsson, Lund University
