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Kiribati, I-Kiribati Women and Forced Migration Due to Climate Change

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Kiribati, I-Kiribati Women and Forced Migration Due to Climate Change View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ResearchArchive at Victoria University of Wellington Discourses of Vulnerability: Kiribati, I-Kiribati Women and Forced Migration Due to Climate Change By Holly Alison Haultain Kings Mansfield A Thesis Submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Pacific Studies Victoria University of Wellington 2012 Abstract Discourses of vulnerability abound in climate change literature; both particular types of places and particular groups of people are routinely considered especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Such discourses are employed by the international community in a technical manner—attempting to categorise current and expected degrees of impact on places and populations—and also to support the advocacy of urgent action to respond to climate change. This thesis examines the manner in which discourses of vulnerability are being invoked in discussions about the impacts of climate change and considers what impact this has on the people and places that are being described in this way. This research focuses specifically on Kiribati and I-Kiribati women and explores, in particular, how the debate about forced migration (as a possible outcome of climate change) has been shaped by vulnerability discourses. Both Kiribati, as a specific type of geographical entity, and women, as a category of people, have been described as having extreme vulnerability to climate change. It is not new for either Pacific Islands or women to be framed as “vulnerable”; however with the increased attention to climate change, vulnerability discourses are being used with such frequency that it is virtually impossible to find literature on the Pacific and women that does not reference their vulnerability. The use of such an emotive term raises questions. Who is naming and claiming vulnerability? What impact does such language have on those that are portrayed in this way? And, what are the long-term consequences of such terminology being used? Interesting questions are also raised regarding discursive similarities between presentations of vulnerable women and vulnerable islands. This thesis addresses these questions by analysing international literature on climate change and forced migration—especially that produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—between 1990 and 2007, and contrasting this with close analysis of public discourse from two vocal I-Kiribati advocates, Pelenise Alofa and Maria Tiimon, from 2009 to 2011. Conclusions are drawn from this analysis regarding the power relationships embedded in discourse, and the possible ramifications of language use for the construction of policy. i Acknowledgements This journey of writing a thesis has been one with many ups and downs and it is the love and support of a great many people that has enabled me to complete it. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those people. I would like to start by thanking the people of Kiribati who, since climate change has become such a pressing issue for the international community, have been inundated with researchers, scientists, and volunteers, all working on defining the issues that are perceived to be affecting Kiribati, formulating solutions, and researching both the place and its people. I am very much aware that this increased attention has been both beneficial and at times unwanted. I therefore want to thank the people of Kiribati for, although they are not aware of it, being subject to yet another research project. I hope that I have conducted this research with an awareness of your voice, concerns and agency within the climate change context. Secondly I would like to thank both Pelenise Alofa and Maria Tiimon who, through the use of their various speeches, presentations and activism have brought this thesis to life and provided the content that I have been able to use in my analysis. The way that these women deliver their speeches, the language that they use and the passion with which they speak, has brought a very real and rich sense of the stakes of climate change for Kiribati, and for them as I-Kiribati women, to the debates. I also want to extend thanks to my family and friends who have consistently supported me, pushed me along, dedicated babysitting hours, to both me and my son, and excused my absence from their lives while this thesis has been put together. I cannot say thank you enough. I would like to extend a special thank you to my other mother Mandy McDonald, Mandy you have been the greatest support to me throughout this whole process. Your dedication of time, your constant encouragement, support, understanding, and, when called for, firm hand has enabled me to complete this thesis. It is true that without you I am not sure that I could have done this. So thank you Mandy and I love you. ii Thanks also needs to be given to my son, Harvey Warner, who has provided all the light relief that I have needed and constantly reminds me that life is full of wonder and it’s important to take a break and a deep breath and appreciate it. This thesis would also not have been completed without the enormous amount of time that my supervisor, Dr. April Henderson, has given to both me and this research. April, you have guided me through a very fulfilling and at times challenging process with your calmness and positivity. Your wealth of scholarly knowledge which you have shared with me has been inspiring. Thank you for knowing exactly when to push me, encourage me, hurry me and ground me. I feel very fortunate to have had the pleasure of you as my supervisor. Lastly I would like to thank the people that are no longer with me, Luci Highfield and Mark (Bolt) Haultain. Your strength, courage and determination in your ultimate battles have provided me with great examples which I have learnt so much from. I am only sorry that I cannot share the excitement of finishing this thesis with you. I would like to finish with a poem for all those people that have helped me along the way, both in their examples and with their presence. Arohanui Big love, that’s what it means. Aroha Nunui means huge love. Aroha Nunui Rawa means very huge love. Aroha Nunui Rawa Ake means bigger very huge love. Aroha Nunui Rawa Ake Tonu means bigger enduring very huge love. Aroha Nunui Rawa Ake Tonu Atu means biggest enduring hugest love, Which are some of the lengths and times of our longing (Robert Sullivan) iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... II LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................... VI LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................VII CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO: IMAGES OF VULNERABILITY WITHIN THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE: PACIFIC ISLANDS AND WOMEN - A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............................................................................................... 6 THE PRODUCTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE KNOWLEDGE ............................................ 7 VULNERABILITY DISCOURSES ............................................................................... 18 SMALL ISLAND STATES......................................................................................... 22 FORCED MIGRATION AS A CONSEQUENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE ............................ 29 WOMEN AND VULNERABILITY .............................................................................. 33 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 39 CHAPTER THREE: OUTLINE OF METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH ...... 41 WHY QUALITATIVE RESEARCH? ........................................................................... 41 A CASE STUDY APPROACH ................................................................................... 43 CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ........................................................................... 46 REFLEXIVITY........................................................................................................ 49 CHAPTER FOUR: ARTICULATIONS OF ISLANDS, WOMEN AND FORCED MIGRATION FROM OUTSIDE THE PACIFIC .............................. 54 ARTICULATIONS OF ISLANDS ................................................................................ 55 ARTICULATIONS OF WOMEN ................................................................................. 59 FORCED MIGRATION ............................................................................................ 68 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 76 CHAPTER FIVE: ARTICULATIONS OF KIRIBATI’S AND I-KIRIBATI WOMEN’S VULNERABILITY BY PELENISE ALOFA AND MARIA TIIMON ................................................................................................................................ 78 FRAMING THE PACIFIC: RECAP OF THE THEORETICAL DEBATE ............................... 80 CALLS FOR MITIGATION ....................................................................................... 84 THE APPLICATION OF BIOPHYSICAL VULNERABILITY FRAMEWORKS ..................... 85 APPROPRIATION OF LANGUAGE ...........................................................................
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