Abstract Discussions of climate change and water security in Africa are often simplistic and indeed deterministic. They overlook not only ecological complexities but also the multitude of ways in which various population groups across the continent approach climatological variability, thereby challenging positivist modeling and external adaptation agendas. The current state of affairs for many often-silenced citizens is already one of hunger, uncertainty, and marginalization; the self-appointed lead actors on climate adaptation–states, markets, NGOs–have, from their vantage point, deeply troubling track records of dealing with people and their environments. For plenty of communities around Africa, it might therefore not so much be only the worsening climate that is increasingly exposing people to disease, displacement, and water insecurity, but the very policies adopted in the name of preparing for, and living with, worsening weather. This essay explores how understanding climate adaptation as a fundamentally social and political process points to possibilities for imagining and working toward futures with greater emancipatory potential. There is no scenario in which African societies adapt successfully to climatic change and do not simultaneously radically reimagine both their relationship with the outside world and with each other, including institutions of control and mechanisms of exclusion at home.

中文翻译：

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不断变化的非洲的气候与水：脆弱环境的不确定性、适应与社会建设

摘要 关于非洲气候变化和水安全的讨论往往过于简单化，而且确实是确定性的。他们不仅忽视了生态的复杂性，而且忽视了整个非洲大陆不同人口群体处理气候变化的多种方式，从而对实证主义建模和外部适应议程提出了挑战。对于许多经常保持沉默的公民来说，目前的状况已经是饥饿、不确定和边缘化之一。自封为气候适应的主要参与者——国家、市场、非政府组织——从他们的角度来看，在与人和环境打交道方面有着令人深感不安的记录。因此，对于非洲各地的许多社区来说，可能不仅仅是气候恶化导致人们越来越多地暴露于疾病、流离失所、和水不安全，而是以准备和忍受日益恶化的天气为名采取的政策。本文探讨了将气候适应理解为一个基本的社会和政治过程，如何指出想象和努力实现具有更大解放潜力的未来的可能性。非洲社会不可能成功地适应气候变化，并且不会同时从根本上重新构想它们与外部世界和彼此之间的关系，包括国内的控制机构和排斥机制。本文探讨了将气候适应理解为一个基本的社会和政治过程，如何指出想象和努力实现具有更大解放潜力的未来的可能性。非洲社会不可能成功地适应气候变化，并且不会同时从根本上重新构想它们与外部世界和彼此之间的关系，包括国内的控制机构和排斥机制。本文探讨了将气候适应理解为一个基本的社会和政治过程，如何指出想象和努力实现具有更大解放潜力的未来的可能性。非洲社会不可能成功地适应气候变化，并且不会同时从根本上重新构想它们与外部世界和彼此之间的关系，包括国内的控制机构和排斥机制。