Seven stories about navigating an uncertain world 

Source: Seven stories about navigating an uncertain world | zimbabweland

This blog replicates one that first appeared on the PASTRES site. Although not about Zimbabwe’s land and agrarian change story per se, the themes are highly relevant. Indeed, how farmers, herders, traders and others navigate an uncertain environment has been a recurrent theme on the blog over the past years (see hereherehere and here, for example). Living with uncertainty is definitely part of life in Zimbabwe, as it is across the world.

This blog introduces a series of seven academic journal articles, all published in the last year or so, which have been interpreted in comic form by artist, Daniel Locke. The comic series was exhibited recently in Brighton, UK, but the seven comics are available to download below, as are the journal articles – all of which are open access.

The series starts with an exploration of how pastoralists – mobile livestock keepers making use of extensive rangelands – live with and from uncertainty, highlighting some of the principles involved. The series continues with explorations of economics, banking and finance; human migration; pandemic preparedness and responses; social assistance and humanitarian aid; insurance and moral economy and high reliability management through knowledge networks.

So, if you are interested in any of these themes – all of course highly relevant to the Zimbabwean context – do check out the article and linked comic below. And if you are intrigued by a novel approach to research communication, you can have a look at the brilliant comics – much easier to engage with than an 8,000 (or more) word academic paper!


Uncertain Worlds #1: Lessons from Pastoralists

Uncertainty is all around us. How does the policy world respond? Dominant approaches are often about exerting control, but it is possible to take a more open, caring approach to uncertainties. And to do this, we can learn a lot from pastoralists.

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Confronting uncertainties in pastoral areas: transforming development from control to care

Ian Scoones, Social Anthropology, June 2023

READ THE PAPER


Uncertain Worlds #2: Economics, banking and finance

The financial crash of 2007-8 exposed the banking system’s reliance on complex algorithms and models. Could bankers and economists rediscover older ideas about uncertainties and ‘unknown unknowns’, and what could they learn from pastoralists?

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Economics for an uncertain world

George F. DeMartino, Ilene Grabel and Ian Scoones (World Development, January 2024, published online first)

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Uncertain Worlds #3: Migration

Many migration policies focus on stability, regularity and control. But the lives of migrants themselves are often uncertain, unpredictable and variable. How could policy makers learn from the strategies and experiences of people on the move?

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Embracing uncertainty: rethinking migration policy through pastoralists’ experiences

Natasha Maru, Michele Nori, Ian Scoones, Greta Semplici and Anna Triandafyllidou, Comparative Migration Studies, January 2022

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Uncertain Worlds #4: Pandemics

When disease outbreaks occur, policies often try to control or manage them. But pandemics are uncertain and unpredictable. Taking account of varied knowledges, cultures and settings could help with more flexible responses over time and space.

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Rethinking disease preparedness: incertitude and the politics of knowledge

Melissa Leach, Hayley MacGregor, Santiago Ripoll, Ian Scoones and Annie Wilkinson, Critical Public Health, February 2021.

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Uncertain Worlds #5: Social Assistance and Humanitarian Relief

In conflicts, crises and disasters, uncertainties are common. So why are many humanitarian, social assistance and disaster relief operations based on risk assessment and management, where stability and predictability are assumed?

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Providing social assistance and humanitarian relief: The case for embracing uncertainty

Matteo Caravani, Jeremy Lind, Rachel Sabates-Wheeler and Ian Scoones, Development Policy Review, December 2021

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Uncertain Worlds #6: Insurance and Moral Economy

Insurance is increasingly offered as a way to protect against loss from droughts, floods and other hazards, including to pastoralists. But pastoralists also draw on older practices of mobility, sharing and moral economy.

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Uncertainty in the drylands: Rethinking in/formal insurance from pastoral East Africa

Leigh Johnson, Tahira Mohamed, Ian Scoones and Masresha Taye, Environmental and Planning A: Economy and Space, May 2023

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Uncertain Worlds #7: High Reliability Knowledge Networks

Critical infrastructures like power stations, electricity grids and air traffic control need to be highly reliable, despite variability and surprise. Pastoralism can be thought of as a ‘critical infrastructure’ too. It depends on strong local knowledge networks, as well as ‘reliability professionals’ who connect knowledge and people together.

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High Reliability Knowledge Networks: Responding to Animal Diseases in a Pastoral Area of Northern Kenya

Alex Tasker and Ian Scoones, The Journal of Development Studies, January 2022

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