Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Major/Program
Global and Sociocultural Studies
First Advisor's Name
Laura Ogden
First Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Chair
Second Advisor's Name
Gail Hollander
Second Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Co-chair
Third Advisor's Name
Hugh Gladwin
Third Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Member
Fourth Advisor's Name
Nazife Ganapati
Fourth Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Member
Keywords
climate-change culture, climate-change planning, climate-change adaptation, climate change; water-management practices, advisory bodies, Miami-Dade County Climate Change, South Florida, Southeast Florida, Miami; urban planning
Date of Defense
7-2-2015
Abstract
While much attention has been given to the ways local communities may be impacted by climate change, this dissertation focuses ethnographically on the local agencies decision-making processes, a less-studied aspect of this topic. The primary purpose of this dissertation research is to understand how government agencies in southern Florida integrate climate change into their decision-making processes while dealing with political resistance. This research expands our understanding on the cultural politics of a new kind of environmental change, where national and international climate-change politics is brought into local water politics to illuminate how new and not so new visions about life in the contemporary metropolis collide and collude.
Using multiple research methods including ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document research, I analyze the activities of the Miami-Dade County Climate Change Advisory Task Force Committee (MDC-CCATF) as well as the water management practices of the regional water management agency, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). My findings include the following: (1) the Task Force activities have spearheaded Miami’s institutional adaptation to climate change; (2) historic legacies have expanded and complicated decision-making processes at the District; (3) a focus on the certainties of climate-change science allows climate change to persist in politically contentious planning contexts.
My dissertation concluded that while planning for potential climate-change impacts can be difficult due to multiple institutional constraints that resource agencies like the District have, scientists and policy-makers have crafted an innovative culture that is particularly visible at sites where science and decision making intersect.
Identifier
FIDC000131
Recommended Citation
Mic, Dumitrita Suzana, "Producing Collaborations Through Community-Level Processes of Climate Change and Water Management Planning" (2015). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2170.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2170
Included in
Human Geography Commons, Nature and Society Relations Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons
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