‘Floods’ of migrants, flows of care: Between climate displacement and global care chains

Abstract

This article explores the growing interface between climate-induced mobilities and participation in ‘global care chains’ under conditions in which climate change is already impacting on lives and livelihoods – especially in the Global South. The authors reconsider discourses on ‘climate migration’ in the light of everyday caring practices and adaptive responses to climate stress, evaluating how climate policy interferes with ‘grassroots’ flows of care. Early engagements tended towards alarmist predictions of mass climate-induced displacement, triggering proposals to ‘secure’ potential host nations against anticipated influxes. Recently, apparently more sober approaches have emerged, promoting labour migration as contributing positively to climate ‘resilience’. These new approaches encourage more able and resourceful people from under-resourced, climate-vulnerable regions to join trans-local or transnational labour markets – which often equates with predominantly female care workers entering global care chains. Effectively, this means that those best equipped to provide care in places where it is most urgently needed end up providing care in relatively privileged, less climate-vulnerable places. Questioning the climate justice implications of this mobilization against the gradient of vulnerability, the authors offer suggestions about how climate policy could actually support caring practices in the places where ordinary people struggle at the sharp edge of climate change.

Repères et caractéristiques épistémiques de la justice climatique

“…Des principes inhérents à la justice environnementale sont repris dans cette conceptualisation : les droits humains, l'équité, l'éthique, la morale, la transparence, l'éducation, la santé. Les réflexions des auteurs des articles font émerger des angles d'analyse peu mobilisés dans les recherches conceptuelles sur la justice environnementale : le genre et la manière dont les femmes sont davantage vulnérables aux conséquences des dérèglements climatiques (Alvarez et Lovera, 2016 ;Ahmed, 2016 ;Agostino et Lizarde, 2012), les communautés locales/autochtones et leurs savoirs et savoir-faire (Jones, 2019), les migrants climatiques (Clark et Bettini, 2017), le cosmopolitisme et le caractère global/planétaire de la problématique de la justice climatique (Baxi, 2016), la solidarité en lien avec le concept de bien commun (Chatterton et al, 2013), l'interdépendance socioécologique (Widener et Rowe, 2018), la décroissance (Perkins, 2019).…”

Climate change in sociology: Still silent or resonating?

“…Similarly, Thorpe and Jacobson (2013) present a critique of market and technological policy responses, while Shaw (2009) shows how European climate policy applies the precautionary principle rather arbitrarily to define its targets. Addressing consequences of global warming in the form of climate migration, Clark and Bettini (2017) reveal that there is a need to reframe climate policy to provide help in places affected by global warming. The rich discussions and insights of the contributions to this subfield illustrate the critical potential of sociology for the study of climate change.…”

Media coverage of climate change induced migration: Implications for meaningful media discourse

“…For instance, in the framework of adaptive migration, individuals become responsible for overcoming difficulties themselves. People migrating are not seen as exposed to structural injustice, and instead are expected to be able to secure themselves against any odds they face (Bettini et al, 2017) as it is through the mobilization of their labour force that they are expected to become resilient (Clark and Bettini, 2017).…”