Journal
GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL
Volume 183, Issue 4, Pages 348-358Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/geoj.12192
Keywords
adaptation; climate refugees; migration; climate justice; resilience; development
Categories
Funding
- Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience (HI-AWARE) consortium under the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA)
- UK Government's Department for International Development
- International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada
- ICIMOD
- government of Afghanistan
- government of Australia
- government of Austria
- government of Bangladesh
- government of Bhutan
- government of China
- government of India
- government of Myanmar
- government of Nepal
- government of Norway
- government of Pakistan
- government of Switzerland
- government of United Kingdom
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In recent debates on climate change and migration, the focus on the figure of climate refugees' (tainted by environmental determinism and a crude understanding of human mobility) has given ground to a broader conception of the climate-migration nexus. In particular, the idea that migration can represent a legitimate adaptation strategy has emerged strongly. This appears to be a positive development, marked by softer tones that de-securitise climate migration. However, political and normative implications of this evolution are still understudied. This article contributes to filling the gap by turning to both the climate refugees' and migration as adaptation' narratives, interrogating how and whether those competing narratives pose the question of (in)justice. Our analysis shows that the highly problematic climate refugees' narrative did (at least) channel justice claims and yielded the (illusory) possibility of identifying concrete rights claims and responsibilities. Read in relation to the growing mantra of resilience in climate policy and politics, the more recent narrative on migration as adaptation' appears to displace justice claims and inherent rights in favour of a depoliticised idea of adaptation that relies on the individual migrant's ability to compete in and benefit from labour markets. We warn that the removal of structural inequalities from the way in which the climate-migration nexus is understood can be seen as symptomatic of a shrinking of the conditions to posing the question of climate justice.
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