Climate change and social recomposition: What climate change is doing to rural areas in Chad

Climate change, due to its intensity and the multiplicity of its effects, is not only an environmental issue: It also brings about social upheaval. In many regions of the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, climate change directly affects lifestyles, social structures, and local dynamics. This article focuses on the village of Bodo in Chad, where climate change is a major factor in social disorganization. The article has two objectives. First, it analyzes the mechanisms of this social disorganization, showing how the changing environment is disrupting the traditional balance of the village. Second, the article will seek to understand the new forms that social relations take through the concept of social hybridity, borrowed from the anthropologist Scott (2005). This notion will help us understand how climate change is giving rise to new social configurations, particularly with regard to agricultural working methods, power relations, and social hierarchies. The analysis is based on fieldwork involving direct observations and semi-structured interviews with residents of Bodo. It aims to highlight how climate change-induced migration, far from being a peripheral phenomenon, actively contributes to the reshaping of local social dynamics. In doing so, this article is part of a sociological approach that considers climate change as a central driver of social transformation.