Living on the margin: Ethnoecological insights from Marshall Islanders at Rongelap atoll

Bridges, Kent W.; McClatchey, Will

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.01.009

Cited by 71 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…43 For relevant insights, emerging debates and attempts to translate some of the relevant concerns into the language of justice as impartiality, see e.g. Bridges and McClatchey (2009), Heyward (2014), Milton (1996, Perrett (1998), Westra (2008) and Zellentin (2015a. 44 See Shue (2014b: 21) for a powerful re-capitulation of this reasoning subtle forms of misrecognition.…”

Section: Are There Universal Norms?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Different Angles on Climate Justice: Insights from Non-Domination and Mutual Recognition

Zellentin

2018

SSRN Journal

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Practitioners occasionally demure that the current academic literature on climate justice is overly abstract and unhelpful in their attempt to promote more effective and equitable climate policies. This paper analyses the claim that one reason for this might be that the debate is currently shaped by a particular narrow understanding of justice as impartiality and neglects other important approaches to justice. I first introduce my interpretation of Erik O. Eriksen's three conceptions of global political justice focusing on impartiality, non-domination, and mutual recognition. Then, I present the key concerns and positions that shape the debates on climate justice in the field of political theory and show why (and in how far) I think current climate justice is predominantly shaped by 'justice as impartiality'. I argue that this explains the emphasis on substantive justice over procedural questions. Furthermore, I show that looking at key questions in climate justice from the perspectives of theories emphasising non-domination and mutual recognition helps to identify some blind-spots in the current debate. Among the issues that are currently somewhat neglected are questions relating to the nature of the relationships of the relevant parties negotiating climate policy. This concerns on the one hand power inequalities and dependencies that shape the interactions between different parties. On the other hand, this relates to the question of how agents perceive these relationships with regard to dimensions of recognition, respect, and concern. It seems likely that less powerful agents have good reasons to feel that the global political regime as it currently works does not treat their interests and demands with the same urgency and importance as is shown for those of some more powerful players. Furthermore, their concerns regarding the normatively significant features of the situation at large are not always respected as equally valid contributions to the debate. I conclude by arguing that climate justice nonetheless cannot do without a rights-based framework typical for justice as impartiality that protects fundamental interests and the pre-conditions for free and equal participation.

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Section: Are There Universal Norms?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Different Angles on Climate Justice: Insights from Non-Domination and Mutual Recognition

Zellentin

2018

SSRN Journal

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“…In the first paper, Bridges and McClatchey (2009) illustrate the adaptive potential of indigenous cultures that have evolved in the marginal environments that are the first areas to experience the effects of climate change. Pacific islanders living on atolls are already negatively affected by climate change, facing threats to available fresh water and food.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional peoples and climate change

Salick

Ross

2009

Global Environmental Change

180

113

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“…In many atolls, including Woleai and Moch (FSM), Rongelap (Marshall Islands), and elsewhere, Islanders are conscious that erosion is part of a "normal process"-more of the same-and had long taken steps to modify and defend eroded areas and secure land elsewhere, at least as early as the 1970s (Bridges and McClatchey 2009;Lipset 2011;Pam and Henry 2012;Schneider 2012). On several Kiribati atolls, many erosion sites had experienced "one or two generations of seawalls" by the 1990s (Gillie 1993).…”

Section: Human Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerable Islands: Climate Change, Tectonic Change, and Changing Livelihoods in the Western Pacific

Connell¹

2015

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Small Pacific islands, especially atolls, have been widely argued to be in the forefront of climate change. Recent degradation of island environments has primarily been attributed to the impact of sea-level rise. However, physical changes to several small islands can be linked to a range of physical influences and to human modification. La Niña events, cyclones, and wind waves have caused localized flooding and storm damage. Most atoll islands have not significantly changed in size, as deposition balances erosion. Many islands have experienced broadly similar environmental problems in earlier times, at different scales, and over different time periods, now accentuated by human pressures on scarce land areas and resources. Local human factors (including construction and mining), tectonic subsidence, and La Niña events have created some iconic sites that have become symbols of sea-level rise, sometimes erroneously attributed solely to global warming. Limited economic prospects in most small islands, rising expectations, and growing populations have contributed to a culture of migration, marked by international migration and urbanization, that has diversified impoverished livelihoods, extended island geographies, and resulted in accentuated population concentrations. Contemporary climate change exacerbates present environmental changes, stimulates further migration, and points to diasporic futures.

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Living on the margin: Ethnoecological insights from Marshall Islanders at Rongelap atoll

Cited by 71 publications

References 13 publications

Different Angles on Climate Justice: Insights from Non-Domination and Mutual Recognition

Different Angles on Climate Justice: Insights from Non-Domination and Mutual Recognition

Traditional peoples and climate change

Vulnerable Islands: Climate Change, Tectonic Change, and Changing Livelihoods in the Western Pacific

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