Climate, culture, and values: The 1997-1998 El Nino and Peruvian fisheries

This ethnographic study addresses the use of forecasts of "El Nino", a recurrent climatic phenomenon which impacts climate patterns around the globe. Focus is on the Peruvian fishing sector because of its long-standing relationship with El Nino and the widespread and extensive exposure of a range of actors to climate information during the 1997--98 event.; This analysis posits that current policy on climate forecast dissemination assumes a consensual model of society in which the information introduced will inevitably result in an aggregate benefit for the recipients. This implies an assumption on the part of the information providers of a high level of rationalization of the sociopolitical order. It is argued that essentialization of "society" in lieu of recognition of existing social tensions among human communities within and between nation-states may result in a lack of attention by forecast providers to the constraints on the use of forecasts. By foregoing consideration of potential differential impacts of information, forecast providers implicitly make judgments in deciding on which groups to target and which methods to employ in disseminating their products.; This study analyzes the viewpoints of those who make use of forecast information, and, to a lesser degree, those who distribute the forecast information. It attempts to take into account goals, incentives, and constraints on the use of climate information that arise within the confines of the existing social structure and in relation to the shifting ideological positions of key actors. Evidence of multiple and non-consensual goals among the actors in the fishing sector, including forecast providers, and the varied and subjective interpretation of climate information in furtherance of those goals bring into bold relief the problematic relationship between evaluative standpoints or normative judgments and scientific knowledge. Only with some understanding of the social and ecological landscape can the more explicit point---how forecast dissemination decisions may differentially affect segments of society and the environment---be addressed using empirical evidence. Drawing on the lessons from the fishery sector, generalizations and methodological prescriptions on how to minimize the unintended consequences resulting from the distribution of climate information are presented.