Gated Adaptation During the Cape Town Drought: Mentalities, Transitions and Pathways to Partial Nodes of Water Security

Simpson N., Shearing C. & Dupont B. (2020) 'Gated Adaptation during the Cape Town Drought: Mentalities, Transitions and Pathways to Partial Nodes of Water Security' Society & Natural Resources An International Journal 1-9.

Posted: 6 Feb 2020

See all articles by Nicholas Simpson

Nicholas Simpson

University of Cape Town (UCT)

Clifford Shearing

University of Cape Town; University of Montreal, School of Criminology; University of New South Wales; University of Toronto

Benoit Dupont

University of Montreal - School of Criminology

Date Written: January 14, 2020

Abstract

Illustrating how mentalities govern private responses to risk, this article highlights the importance of mental frames in the selection of adaptation pathways. Scholarship emanating out of the Cape Town drought (2015–2018) has drawn attention to the effect of the drought on public mentalities and their response to the drought, transitional governance arrangements and off-grid responses to secure water supply. This article focusses on what mentalities and behaviors may not have changed for private actors that secured water through off-grid means. This is a contrarian view to the dominant drought response discourse, yet critical for understanding and charting future governance arrangements. While it is acknowledged that transforming frames have emerged from the drought and are enabling novel pathways, the article questions the distributional and transition effect of such shifts when considering gated actions that link with conventional or untransformed views and behaviors which themselves entrench alternative response pathways for the affluent.

Highlights

Conventional frames govern private responses to risk.

Mentalities drive the selection of available response technologies.

Range of selected pathways indicate plural and differential views.

Private off-grid and gated responses contest transformed views or behaviors.

Keywords: mentalities, transitions, technological pathways, Cape Town drought, climate gating, off-grid

Suggested Citation

Simpson, Nicholas and Shearing, Clifford D and Dupont, Benoit, Gated Adaptation During the Cape Town Drought: Mentalities, Transitions and Pathways to Partial Nodes of Water Security (January 14, 2020). Simpson N., Shearing C. & Dupont B. (2020) 'Gated Adaptation during the Cape Town Drought: Mentalities, Transitions and Pathways to Partial Nodes of Water Security' Society & Natural Resources An International Journal 1-9., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3519012

Nicholas Simpson (Contact Author)

University of Cape Town (UCT) ( email )

Private Bag X3
Rondebosch, Western Cape 7701
South Africa

Clifford D Shearing

University of Cape Town ( email )

Private Bag X3
Rondebosch, Western Cape 7701
South Africa

HOME PAGE: http://www.publiclaw.uct.ac.za/pbl/staff/cshearing

University of Montreal, School of Criminology ( email )

C.P. 6128 succursale Centre-ville
Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7
Canada

University of New South Wales ( email )

Sydney
Australia

University of Toronto ( email )

Robarts Library
130 St. George Street, Room 8001
Toronto, ON M5S 1A5
Canada
416-978-3720 Ext. 234 (Phone)
416-978-4195 (Fax)

Benoit Dupont

University of Montreal - School of Criminology ( email )

CP 6128 Succursale Centre-ville
Montreal, QC H2P 2H4
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://www.benoitdupont.net

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