The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies presents:

Sophie Webber of The Department of Geography, University of British Columbia

on

Mobilizing Adaptation through Sticky Experiments? Circulating Truth and Capital for the World Bank

Abstract:
The World Bank has become increasingly invested in climate change adaptation projects and policies. Central to the Bank’s pursuit of adaptation is their production of global expertise. Drawing from the relational case study of the World Bank’s first adaptation project in the Pacific Island country of Kiribati, and a newer project in Solomon Islands, this talk explores the intensive work required for mobilizing lessons from experimental projects. However, heeding calls to avoid fetishizing mobility and attending to the contradictions between global flows and local institutional specificity, I find limited evidence of replication in noted sites of emulation. I conclude by examining how the citation and circulation of global expertise, best-practice projects, and financial investments in adaptation works for the World Bank to build legitimacy, relevance and momentum.