Unraveling the nuances of climate change maladaptation: A call for more verstehen perspectives

Adaptation strategies have dominated the literature and have been extensively researched as part of efforts to reduce climate change impacts. However, recent studies have shown that adaptation strategies can lead to unintended consequences if not carefully considered. Studies have relied on a set of typologies developed by early scholars to assess maladaptation. While these typologies offer an opportunity for maladaptation analysis, they create a locked-in trajectory in which researchers constrain themselves to relying solely on them to predict possible outcomes of a failed adaptation. Essentially, some researchers neglect the value judgment of those ostensibly affected in analyzing maladaptive outcomes. Drawing on a detailed review of the available literature, this paper discusses the conspicuous lack of a verstehen perspective—an approach in which a population constructs the meaning of its experiences—in assessing maladaptation. Thus, the paper calls for more grounded, first-hand accounts to ensure a contextually informed understanding of people’s experiences with climate change maladaptation.