Shifting identities within climate change adaptation narratives among fisherfolk in Del Carmen, Siargao Islands, Philippines

This study examines shifting identities among fisherfolk in the Municipality of Del Carmen, Siargao Islands, Philippines, through their narratives of climate change adaptation. It investigates how narratives function in identity work, addressing a critical gap in narrative identity research within climate change contexts by focusing on the co-constructed, relational, and context-sensitive nature of these processes. Guided by a narrative constructionist design, the study employed pakikipagkwentuhan – an indigenous Filipino relational methodology – to co-construct stories with sixteen fisherfolk from an island and a coastal community. Thematic analysis identified three primary trajectories: first, priorities in adaptation embody existing and emerging identities (provider, protector, and hero); second, diskarte (creative problem-solving) enables the negotiation of narrative identities amid uncertainty; and third, climate change uncertainty disrupts identities, highlighting their fluid and contingent nature. These findings demonstrate that narratives do more than represent identity – they embody, negotiate, and disrupt it, revealing identities as adaptive, socially negotiated processes rather than fixed or predictive categories. By tracing how fisherfolk construct and adjust their identities in response to climate shocks and disruptions, this study seeks to contribute to literature on narrative identity and highlights the central role of lived experience in shaping climate change adaptation.