Title: From “Primitive Migration” to “Climate Refugees”: The Curious Fate of the Natural Environment in Migration Studies
Abstract: Abstract Beginning with Friedrich Ratzel, the founders of migration studies all mentioned the natural environment as an important determinant of human mobility. As migration theories grew in coherence and complexity over the course of the twentieth century, however, environmental considerations generally disappeared from explanations of displacement. They would reappear in a largely unconnected discourse stressing the threat of future waves of “environmental migrants” in the end-of-the-century context of climate change anxiety. This alarmist stance was heavily criticized by several migration scholars during the same period of time as a corpus of empirical studies emerged that reconsidered the possible impact of the environment on migration. The purpose of this article is to analyze the intellectual history of this swing of the pendulum. The first part examines the rationale for the temporary disappearance of the environment from migration studies, as this major shift has not yet been fully or systematically studied. The second part considers the renewal of interest in environmental migration. Finally, the last part argues that although a solid body of new research documents the contemporary migration–environment nexus, additional work is needed to reembed the environment more firmly within migration theories, taking into account the increased focus on the nature–society nexus, which has recently expanded in geography. Comenzando con Ratzel, todos los fundadores de los estudios sobre migración mencionaron el entorno natural como un determinante importante de la movilidad humana. Sin embargo, a medida que las teorías de la migración crecieron en coherencia y complejidad en el curso del siglo XX, las consideraciones ambientales generalmente desaparecieron de las explicaciones sobre el desplazamiento. Ellas reaparecerían en un discurso en gran medida desconectado que destacaba la amenaza de futuras oleadas de “migrantes ambientales” dentro del contexto de ansiedad por el cambio climático, a finales del siglo. Esta postura alarmista fue duramente criticada por varios estudiosos de la migración durante ese mismo período a medida que emergió un cuerpo de estudios empíricos que reconsideraron el posible impacto del medio ambiente sobre la migración. El propósito de este artículo es analizar la historia intelectual de esta vuelta del péndulo. La primera parte está dedicada a examinar la racionalidad de la desaparición temporal del medio ambiente en los estudios de migración, por cuanto este cambio mayor todavía no ha sido estudiado ni completa ni sistemáticamente. La segunda parte considera la renovación del interés en la migración ambiental. Finalmente, la última parte sostiene que aunque hay un sólido cuerpo de nueva investigación que documenta el nexo contemporáneo migración-medio ambiente, se necesita más trabajo para reincorporar con mayor firmeza el medio ambiente dentro de las teorías de la migración, tomando en cuenta la creciente focalización del nexo naturaleza-sociedad, que se ha expandido últimamente en geografía. Key Words: climate changeenvironmentenvironmental migrationmigration theoryrefugees.关键词: 气候变化环境环境迁移迁移理论难民。Palabras clave: cambio climáticomedio ambientemigración ambientalteoría de la migraciónrefugiados Notes 1. The impact of the environment remains implicit in Ratzel due to the very general character of his theory and to the use of the much broader concept of “soil” (Boden). When he uses more concrete language, especially in his Political Geography, Ratzel (1903) brings other explanatory factors for displacement to the fore, especially the growth of population and the competition for space between different populations, without explicit links to environmental pressures. He nevertheless notes that natural barriers and obstacles can slow down mobility. 2. The general idea of linking the evolution of the environment to the evolution of populations goes farther back, to Malthus (1798 Malthus, T. R. 1798. An essay on the principle of population, London: Johnson. [Google Scholar]), although he only mentions migrations incidentally. As Saunders (2000 Saunders, P. L. 2000. “Environmental refugees: The origins of a construct”. In Political ecology: Science, myth and power, Edited by: Stott, P. and Sullivan, S. 218–46. London: Arnold. [Google Scholar]) convincingly shows, many of the publications that have brought concepts such as environmental refugees to the fore are indeed still Malthusian in their emphasis on the population–resources nexus as the root cause of forced migration. 3. The same could be written about the pioneering empirical research of Boas on Eskimo migration, in which he adopted a nondeterministic approach to geography (Boas 1887 Boas, F. 1887. The study of geography. Science, 9: 137–41. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 4. The word ecological is not used here with its usual contemporary meaning but indicates that the unit of analysis is not an individual but a group of people, usually corresponding to a geographical area. The term environment used in this context has nothing to do with the natural characteristics of the area but refers to population variables such as the density of habitation, the ethnic composition of neighborhoods, and so on. 5. In the case of De Jong and Fawcett (1981 De Jong, G. F. and Fawcett, J. T. 1981. “Motivations for migration: An assessment and a value-expectancy research model”. In Migration decision making: Multidisciplinary approaches to microlevel studies in developed and developing countries, Edited by: De Jong, G. F. and Gardner, R. W. 13–58. New York: Pergamon. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), the word environment is only mentioned in the context of amenities migration, to which I return later. 6. The way in which the climate as an environmental phenomenon has been disregarded by geographers in general illustrates this process quite well: “Embarrassed in the first half of the twentieth century by the naive determinists, geographers became increasingly happy to leave climate well alone. Distancing themselves from the idea, climate was left first to the physical geographers, who in turn handed it over to the meteorologists who most recently have been usurped by the Earth system scientists” (Hulme 2008b Hulme, M. 2008a. Climate refugees: Cause for a new agreement?. Environment, : November–December. ). http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/November-December%202008/hulme-full.html (last accessed 20 June 2012). [Google Scholar], 10). 7. Interview in the film Climate Refugees by Michael Nash. 8. The same type of analysis was performed between Mexican municipalities (2009), between Mexican provinces and the United States (2003), in sub-Saharan Africa (2008), in Ghana (Van der Geest, Vrieling, and Dietz 2010 Van der Geest, K., Vrieling, A. and Dietz, T. 2010. Migration and environment in Ghana: A cross-district analysis of human mobility and vegetation dynamics. Environment and Urbanization, 22(1): 107–23. 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Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 198
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