You only have to look at the news each day to realise that we are living in an age of uncertainty. Whether it’s imposing tariffs, interfering in sovereign countries or threatening to annex areas to get access to critical minerals, Donald Trump’s administration is generating daily uncertainties in markets and geopolitical relations. It is a new era, a rupture, as Mark Carney put it at Davos.
But how do we respond? Uncertainties are not new. Uncertainties are part of day-to-day life in many settings, whether in relation to markets, conflicts, environment, climate. Where can we look for inspiration? Drawing on my book, Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World (Polity, 2024 – also available open access), I recently wrote a ‘long read’ (not that long…!) piece for The Conversation.
I have reproduced it here in case you missed it. As discussed in a recent blog celebrating the start of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, we all should learn from pastoralists. Perhaps especially so, now.
This article is from Zimbabweland, a blog written by IDS Research Fellow Ian Scoones. Zimbabweland focuses on issues related to rural livelihoods and land reform in Zimbabwe.
