Degree

BS (Social Sciences & Liberal Arts)

Faculty / School

School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS)

Department

Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts

Date of Award

Spring 2025

Date of Submission

2025-07-30

Advisor

Soha Macktoom

Project Type

SSLA Culminating Experience

Access Type

Restricted Access

Keywords

Climate Change, traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous knowledge loss, Ibrahim Hyderi, epistemic fragmentation

Abstract

This study examines the interplay of climate change, media representation, and economic instability in eroding the traditional fishing expertise of the coastal population in Ibrahim Hyderi, Karachi. Based on comprehensive interviews with seven male participants from various generations, this research explores both the nature of the loss and the ways in which fishermen experience, reject, or rationalize it. The findings indicate an intricate conflict between traditional knowledge and the demands of modern life—not as a straightforward decline, but as a process shaped by structural marginalization and shifting epistemic values. Experienced fishermen express a feeling of bewilderment as ecological indicators become increasingly unreliable, while younger members engage with the sea through digital tools and innovation, often lacking awareness of the traditional systems they have bypassed. However, this shift is not purely technological; it is also discursive. Media narratives and institutional planning contribute to the epistemicide of local knowledge by framing indigenous expertise as outdated or irrelevant. This study places local perspectives at the forefront of a wider discourse on environmental instability, epistemic injustice, and the future of indigenous knowledge systems.

Pages

iv, 62

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