An Ethnography of Climate, Care and Embodied Inequalities in Devon

This research will explore how climate-related care burdens are experienced and managed in rural and urban communities across Devon, England.

In this context, the health impacts of climate change are often experienced in relation to socioeconomic issues such as rising costs of food and energy, and existing health inequalities. Rather than the ‘catastrophic events’ that often predominate in climate narratives, this ethnography will prioritise the slow, mundane ways that climate change is experienced, understood and managed through care; who carries the weight of responding to a changing climate, what are the health implications of this – and how is this managed in pragmatic ways.

This research will engage with community leaders, activists and practitioners who absorb disproportionate burdens of climate mitigation and adaptation – for example through community-based food provision, local cross-sectoral initiatives, or sustaining climate action. This will shed light on how climate-health care provision is distributed, and what this means for the wellbeing of rural communities in Devon, as elsewhere.