Between Development and Survival: Climate Change Attitudes and Class Location

On the one hand, it is well established that extreme weather conditions and other consequences of climate change disproportionately affect people in the Global South. On the other hand, these same people are caught between the need to prevent the worst outcomes of climate change are considered to be in need for socio-economic development, which unfortunately exacerbates carbon dioxide emissions. This is particularly acute in Mumbai, a low-lying metropolis where yearly floods and changing weather patterns serve as daily reminders of climate change. Mumbai is also highly congested; its limited land area and abundant job opportunities attract migrants from across India. To address these challenges, mega transportation infrastructure projects, such as the sea link and metro systems, have been proposed and implemented.

The author - based on discourse analysis and preliminary ethnographic fieldwork in Mumbai – analyses conflicting attitudes and beliefs toward climate change (protecting the natural environment versus prioritizing infrastructure and other investments). She argues that these beliefs and attitudes correspond to different positions within the class structure within the Indian urban middle class. In other words, different fractions of middle class perceive climate change and the ways to tackle its impact differently. Unexpectedly, these differences serve to reproduce inequalities - within the middle class itself and beyond.