Gendering Resilience: Myths and Stereotypes in the Discourse on Climate-Induced Migration

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Global Policy Volume 8 . Supplement 1 . February 2017 40 Gendering Resilience: Myths and Stereotypes in the Discourse on Climate-induced Migration

Delf Rothe pca su Article Issue Special Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg

Abstract The research article critically investigates recent European policy proposals that promote migration as an adaptation strategy to increase the resilience of communities vulnerable to the environmental crisis. Such proposals have been welcomed for breaking with alarmist discourses that framed climate-induced migration as a threat to national or international security. The present article seeks to contribute to this ongoing debate by bringing in a fresh perspective that has so far been neglected: the perspective of gender. Drawing on a poststructuralist perspective on gender the article reveals that policy debates on climate-induced migration take place within highly gendered discourses. Applying this perspective to recent policy reports on climate change, migration and resilience, the article helps to paint a more nuanced picture of the highly criticized notion of resilience. The analysis shows that, on the one hand, resilience thinking helped overcoming a masculinized discourse of security as control. On the other hand, it reproduces a series of ‘gender myths’ about the role of women in the so-called Global South.

The issue of climate change-induced migration is fiercely discourse that focuses on the linkages of climate change, debated in academic, political and public media discourses. conflict and migration revolving around a narrow concept of These debates have long been dominated by alarmist threat security, and a discourse of climate change, migration and images and projections of looming waves of hundreds of adaptation, drawing upon the broader concept of resilience. millions of climate refugees in the near future. Recently, Section 3 asks how we can explain the rise of the resilience such alarmist voices have been replaced by a more modest concept when we read it through a lens of gender dis- discourse, which revolves around the notion of resilience. In course. Section 4 uses this perspective to discuss the merits, line with resilience thinking this discourse has stressed the problems and pitfalls of a resilience discourse as opposed to complexity and multi-causality of climate-induced migration. a narrow security discourse. Most importantly, climate migration has been normatively – reevaluated from posing a threat to (inter)national security 1 A poststructuralist perspective on gender and to being a potential adaptation measure that might reduce the environment the vulnerability of communities in climate hot-spot regions (see Scheffran et al., 2012). In the academic literature, there The discourse theoretical approach to gender applied in this is a heated normative debate about this discursive shift. study is based on three core ideas: anti-essentialism, post- Some have welcomed the rise of resilience for its openness foundationalism and the intrinsic relation between gender and departure from a defense-oriented approach to security discourses and political power. (Corry, 2014). Others have condemned resilience as yet First, a poststructuralist take on gender opposes the idea another expression of a neoliberal hegemony, which is shift- that differences between the sexes are naturally given. In ing the burden of protection from state agencies to the vul- doing so, this perspective poses a challenge to essentialist nerable communities themselves (Bettini, 2014; Methmann feminist approaches including radical- or eco-feminism, and Oels, 2015). which held that women would generally behave more The present article seeks to contribute to this ongoing peacefully or environmentally sustainable than men (Mies debate by bringing in a fresh perspective on this debate and Shiva, 1993; Tickner, 1992). A poststructuralist perspec- that has so far been neglected: the perspective of gender tive does not deny that biological and material differences discourse. It asks how we can evaluate the recent shift in between the sexes exist but assumes these do not have any discourses of climate-induced migration, when they are read meaning unless they become discursively mediated (Butler, through the lens of gender. Drawing on a poststructuralist 1990). Following Hajer (1995, p. 44) discourses can be understanding of gender, the article seeks to reveal the gen- understood as historically ‘specific ensembles of ideas, con- dered subject positions and narratives in resilience thinking. cepts and categorisation that are produced, reproduced and For this, the first section very shortly introduces the post- transformed in a particular set of practices and through structuralist understanding of gender and its operationaliza- which meaning is given to physical and social realities’. Gen- tion. Section 2 distinguishes between two ideal-typical der discourses produce historically specific gendered subject discourses of climate change, migration and security: a positions, related attributions and behavioral norms, that are

© 2017 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2017) 8:Suppl.1 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12400 Climate-induced Migration 41 embedded within and structured by broader discursive nar- and security (see section 2). On the basis of this typology, ratives and storylines. the most recent resilience discourse on climate change and Second, postfoundationalism means that these discursive migration is re-read through the gender lens outlined above. structures are considered to be unstable and in constant To do so, a corpus of 20 policy reports and publications flux as there is no ahistorical ground, no universal center of on the relation between climate change, migration and resi- any discourse. Hence, the meaning of reality is contingent lience have been compiled. These include reports by three and gender discourses as well as related gendered subject types of discursive actors; (1) academic institutions; (2) inter- positions, norms, and stereotypes shift over time (Nightin- national organizations and government agencies; as well as gale, 2006, p. 165). However, by acting in accord with exist- (3) major NGOs and think tanks.1 These organizations have ing subject positions and by rearticulating dominant gender been selected as part of what Hartmann et al. (2016) call a narratives, individuals also constantly reproduce discourses. ‘population-environment-development triangle’ (Hartmann Third, discourses are intrinsically linked to (political) power et al., 2016): i.e. a growing cooperation of NGOs, think-tanks, (Foucault, 1991). By framing social and political problems in international organizations, and academics working in the particular ways, discourses create a field of possibility for fields of development aid, environmental protection, popula- certain political instruments – or put more simply: they tion control and peacebuilding (see Figure 1).2 As this dis- define which policy measures appear possible and appropri- course is particularly strong in the Anglo-Saxon world only ate to cope with the identified problems. English sources have been included. Following the assumption that environmental discourses The theoretical perspective outlined above has been used are often highly gendered discourses (Arora-Jonsson, 2011; to develop an analytical heuristic including categories such Leach, 2007; MacGregor, 2010) I apply the outlined perspec- as gendered subject-positions and relating attributions, tive to reveal the gendered subjectivities, myths, and stereo- metaphors, as well as gender narratives and storylines. This types in discourses on the relation between climate change, heuristic has been used to code the empirical materials. migration and security. The aim is to show how these Subsequently, the coded text parts have been interpreted discourses essentialize and naturalize gendered categories and systematized to identify broader gender narratives and such as ‘women in the Global South’ as well as related stereotypical patterns as well as to discuss their political vulnerabilities and to study the political implications of implications. these essentialisms. For this, the article draws on a variety of empirical sources, fi 2 Discourses of climate change, conflict and which each ful ll different tasks in the analytical process. Ear- migration lier research of the author (Boas and Rothe, 2016; Rothe, 2016) and additional secondary literature is used to identify Climate change-induced migration is a remarkable phe- two ideal-typical discourses on climate change, migration nomenon: although clear causal links between climate

Figure 1. Organizations included in the empirical sample from three different backgrounds.

Source: Delf Rothe

change and migratory decisions cannot be established and example, holds that: ‘By securitising and militarising it, the research has proven many of the projected numbers of environmental crisis becomes a problem that requires tech- future ‘climate migrants’ wrong, the trope received consider- nical, diplomatic and military solutions, entirely consistent able attention in Western public and political discourses with hegemonic (hyper)masculinity’. The alarmist climate (see Boas and Rothe 2016). In the following, two dominant security discourse was embedded in a broader project of discourses of climate change, migration and security link- masculine-coded scientific rationalization of climate change ages are described and read through a lens of gender.3 related threats driven by a network of largely male, white scientists (MacGregor, 2010, p. 225). The aim was to measure, calculate, and visualize security risks – thereby making The hyper-masculinized discourse of climate change, them ‘controllable’ and ‘manageable’. This masculinized conflict and migration image of global scientific control was then opposed to the A first of these discourses that focus on climate-induced gendered image of ‘women’s day-to-day work and knowl- migration is a narrow security discourse informed by storyli- edge’ (Leach, 2007, p. 80). nes that construct a nexus between climate change, resource The masculine-coded discourse of rationalization is scarcity, conflict and migration.4 Such storylines can be traced accompanied by a strong call for global scientific manage- back to the ‘Limits of Growth’ report published by the Club of ment and control of the global threat of climate change Rome in 1972, which painted a bleak scenario of a collapse of (Agarwal, 1992, pp. 191–192). Whereas the discourse posi- human and earth systems in the 21st century due to populations men as the scientific and political managers of global tion growth and environmental degradation (Meadows et al., security problems, women (in the so-called Global South) 1972). This rationale was rearticulated in prominent environ- are framed as part of the problem (see Table 1). The key mentalist publications of the late 20th century including, for link that holds the causal chain between environmental example, the 1987 report ‘our common future’ of the so- change and migration together is the one between popula- called Brundtland Commission (Hartmann et al., 2016). At the tion growth and resource scarcity (Hartmann et al., 2016). same time, it strongly influenced scientific inquiries into the The rationale of this ‘neo-Malthusian’ narrative is that envi- links between population growth, natural resource scarcity, ronmental conflicts in the so-called Global South result from violent conflict and migration (Homer-Dixon, 1991; Myers, environmental change, paired with the problem of overpop- 2002). In the 2000s, such ideas then became connected to ulation and resulting overgrazing and over-farming of the notion of climate conflicts (Burke et al., 2009). Arguments already deteriorating land. Along with these neo-Malthusian that linked environmental change to violent conflict were narratives comes thus a problematization of the fertility and accompanied by alarmist projections of large numbers of reproductive behavior of women in the so-called Global environmental or climate refugees in the near future. Most South (Hartmann, 2014, p. 772). This neo-Malthusian degra- famously Myers (2002, pp. 609–611) anticipated that 200 mil- dation narrative produces a strong demand for paternalistic lion people could be fleeing from sea-level rise and other forms of control. During European imperialism, it supported negative effects of global warming in 2050. Different scholars political colonial interventions into domestic affairs such as have criticized the early climate change, conflict and the restructuring of agricultural systems. In the climate secu- migration discourse for its alarmist tone that constructs the rity discourse of the 2000s it supported calls for the devel- vulnerability of the poor as a danger for the industrialized opment of governance mechanisms to manage and control world – since climate-induced instabilities might spillover to climate-induced migration globally (Methmann and Oels, the Global North through processes of international migra- 2015, p. 56). tion or regional conflicts (e.g. Bettini, 2014; Hartmann, 2014; Some of the policy proposals even went beyond this Oels, 2013). paternalistic form of control and openly promoted popula- This discourse on climate change, conflict and migration tion control to reduce climate related threats (Sasser, 2012, is a highly gendered one. MacGregor (2010, p. 231), for p. 35). An emerging ‘population-environment-development

Table 1. Discourses on climate-induced migration and underlying gender stereotypes Discourse Climate/conﬂict/migration Climate/migration/resilience

Security concept ‘Hard’ (national) security ‘Soft’ (livelihood) security Gendered Rationalization, global scientific control and Intuition, learning, education: local tacit knowledge rationalities/forms of steering: Abstract scientific knowledge (male- (female-coded) knowledge coded) Gendered policy Male-coded: domination, control of nature Female-coded: natural embeddedness, adaptation responses Gendered Women as part of the problem (as mothers), men Women as victims (due to their vulnerability) and as subjectivities as part of the solution (as scientific managers) saviors (as change agents to their particular tacit knowledge)

© 2017 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2017) 8:Suppl.1 Climate-induced Migration 43 triangle’ (Hartmann et al., 2016) comprising Western defense With the rise of resilience thinking, also the gender roles actors, women’s rights activists and environmental NGOs and stereotypes underlying the discourse on climate promoted family planning measures in developing countries change, security and migration have been turned upside as a solution to problems like environmental degradation down (see table 1). The masculinized discourse on global (MacGregor, 2010, p. 234; Sasser, 2012, p. 111). This adds a threats and managerial solutions is replaced with a focus on win-win spin to the neo-Malthusian narrative outlined livelihoods and vulnerabilities of local communities (Hunter, above: reducing women’s fertility helps mitigate climate 2016). Resilience is often perceived as a ‘softer’, more posi- change related security risks, but at the same time empow- tive approach to security focusing on societies, households ers women in vulnerable regions. What this win-win narra- and livelihoods (see Corry, 2014). Along with this shifting tive masks is that forms of population control in the name focus on livelihoods and households comes a new sensitivity of the environment can take very violent forms. Reid (2014), for the gendered experiences of climate change, and the for example, describes how the problematization of the rural unequal gender relations that lead to different vulnerabili- illiterate poor in the Indian regions of Bihar and Madhya ties of men, women, boys, girls in specific local contexts Pradesh as possible climate migrants by the UK Department (Chindarkar, 2012, p. 1; World Bank, 2011, p. 4). Women are of International Development (DfID) as well as Greenpeace now seen as particularly endangered by the negative India has helped legitimizing forced sterilization programs in impacts of climate change but at the same time, given their these regions (Reid, 2014, p. 200). The link was first revealed central positions in local households, seen as important by an article in The Observer, which points to a 2010 DfID agents of change (Annecke, 2014; Swarup et al., 2011, p. 5; report, in which the fight against climate change is cited as UNISDR, 2012, p. 3). one of the ‘key reasons for pressing ahead with such [steril- ’ ization] programmes (Chamberlain, 2012). 3 Explaining the rise of resilience A gendered perspective on discourses of climate change, The gender-sensitive discourse on climate, migration and security and migration can help explaining the swift rise of resilience resilience thinking in this field. While not being the sole rea- Resilience discourse, on the contrary, has its roots in ecosys- son, part of the success story of resilience can be explained tems thinking and psychology and has recently been made by its discursive ambiguity (Simon and Randalls, 2016; prominent by a range of international think tanks and net- Rothe, 2017) and its resulting ability to create resonances works such as the Resilience Alliance or the Stockholm Resi- between development, gender, environment and security lience Center (Corry, 2014; Methmann and Oels, 2015).5 discourses. Loosely defined as the capability of individuals, communities As Methmann and Oels (2015, p. 52) note, the discourse or systems to bounce back after external shocks and to on climate migration as an adaptation measure draws on an adapt to changing environmental conditions, resilience has understanding of resilience as transformation. Accordingly, become a dominant governance paradigm in fields includ- resilience requires more than the adaptation of a system to ing development, security and environmental governance. changing environmental conditions: ‘Transformational resili- In the field of climate change and security, resilience think- ence refers to the emergent transformation of these very ing stresses complexity and challenges any linear linkages systems into something new’ (Methmann and Oels, 2015, p. between climate change, conflict and migration. Further- 54). Indeed, several of the analyzed empirical sources point more, resilience discourse shifts the focus from external to the fact that temporary migration might help vulnerable threats to the immanent risks and the vulnerabilities of communities to transform themselves, for example by pro- socio-ecological systems (Corry, 2014, p. 269). Against this viding additional economic and cultural capital that could backdrop, climate migration is considered not a security be used to transform infrastructures or local economic struc- threat, but a possible adaptation measure of local communi- tures (e.g. Matthe, 2016; Mercy Corps, 2015; Swarup et al., ties to enhance their social resilience against climate shocks 2011). For example, it is argued that migration might help (Bettini, 2014; Methmann and Oels, 2015). This rationale was transforming ingrained gender structures and traditional first brought up in the academic literature on climate- mores (Mercy Corps, 2015, pp. ii–iii). The underlying argu- induced migration (McLeman and Smit, 2006; Black et al., ment is that ‘male migration may leave women and girls 2011) and then soon spilled over to think tank and policy behind to take on new roles (e.g., managing food stocks), debates (e.g. Government Office for Science, 2011). The sto- which can create opportunities to challenge discriminatory ryline is that the temporary and cyclical migrants from social norms’ (Mercy Corps, 2015, p. 6). This notion of trans- highly vulnerable regions help to increase the resilience of formation resonates strongly with the dominant idea of gen- their home communities. They would do so by sending der mainstreaming – that is ‘the transformation of remittances and accumulating economic and cultural capital, discriminatory social institutions such as laws, cultural norms which both can be used to raise the adaptive capabilities of and practices that limit women’s access to rights and oppor- the home communities (Scheffran et al., 2012). But also tunities’ (UNFCCC, 2016, p. 5). planned, proactive resettlements of whole communities are The close marriage of strategic thinking and gender main- being discussed as adaptation measures (Government Office streaming discourse becomes even more obvious when one for Science, 2011, p. 10). considers another key concept in resilience discourse: the

notion of empowerment. In the resilience literature, empow- neoliberal thought see Walker and Cooper, 2011). At that erment is seen as the key to producing resilient communi- time, the notion of empowerment met with the critique of ties and subjects (Chandler and Reid, 2016). It implies central government and paternalistic policies that character- providing vulnerable people or communities with the means ized the welfare state – and instead stressed the importance to build up adaptive capacities and self-help potential that of ‘self-organization of members of the community in order make them capable to recover from external shocks, for to gain control over their lives’ (Osborne, 1994, p. 59). Given example, through awareness-raising, education, and knowl- this neoliberal legacy of the notion of empowerment, cli- edge transfer. Yet, there is a second discursive trajectory mate resilience practices in developing countries risk placing around a progressive notion of empowerment, which was responsibility on women, without providing them with the developed by feminist political ecologists (Agarwal, 2009). material means to actually meet these responsibilities (see Here, empowerment refers to practices of challenging power Batliwala and Dhanraj, 2004). Practices of resilience promo- imbalances and of providing marginalized genders, i.e., tion here produces new kinds of gendered, neoliberal sub- depending on the context, women, boys, transgender peo- ject positions in the developing world: women who ple, etc., with the resources needed to achieve equality. The ‘exercise leadership within their communities’ (Mercy Corps, surprising convergence of strategic thinking and the ratio- 2015, p. 10); men who migrate to accumulate economic and nale of gender mainstreaming in climate, migration and resi- social capital (PCCM, 2014); girls who start working to take lience discourse then goes back to a creative mixing of care of their families and the whole community (Annecke, these two notions of empowerment: the empowerment of 2014). This excludes everyone who is incapable or unwilling marginalized women and girls in many communities is seen to become a self-reliant, entrepreneurial ‘change-agent’ (see as desirable not only from a gender equality perspective, also Hartmann et al., 2016). but also from a strategic point of view. On the one hand, Furthermore, a transformational understanding of resili- the argument is that women and girls are often the most ence reframes the suffering of people in developing countries vulnerable amongst the vulnerable – and thus empowering as a chance for the transformation of unequal gender rela- them would increase the resilience of the whole community tions. Several empirical sources argue that climate shocks (UNISDR, 2012, p. 3). On the other hand, climate resilience could be seen as such a chance, as they would force ‘men discourse draws on the assumption that women and girls, and women [...] to take on new roles and responsibilities, due to their traditional roles within households, are bearers and to work together in different ways’ (Webb, 2015, p. 17). of particular local and tacit forms of knowledge (Annecke, This is perfectly expressed in the following quote: ‘Although 2014). Exactly this specialized knowledge is seen as essential shocks and stresses can cause terrible destruction, in some for the development of adaptive capacities and thus resili- instances they open up opportunities for positive change, ence against climate change. Hence, the ‘[e]mpowerment of enabling women and men to take on new and more pro- women is an important ingredient in building climate resili- gressive gender roles’ (Mercy Corps, 2015, p. 10). As Chan- ence’ (Mercy Corps, 2015, p. 10). In line with this argument, dler and Reid (2016) argue, resilience crucially teaches many empirical sources stress that women and girls should vulnerable populations to adapt to suffering in the world, not just be considered victims, but potentially as ‘effective rather than to resist or overcome it. Taking into account that agents of change’ (Mercy Corps, 2015, p. 10; Swarup et al., it is often people of color who are most vulnerable to cli- 2011, p. 5; UNISDR, 2012, p. 3; World Bank, 2011, p. 9). mate change, climate resilience thinking thereby risks reproducing a racialized discourse around the ‘heroic narrative of ’ 4 Gender myths: problematizing climate, black sufferers (Leary, 2015). migration and resilience discourse Second, although almost all reports that make up the climate, migration and resilience discourse draw upon the ter- From a gendered perspective, the climate resilience dis- minology of gender, in the end it comes down to a focus course seems to be normatively superior to the older, cli- on women and girls. The vulnerability of boys, men, inter- mate, conﬂict and migration discourse: it did away with sexual or transgender people is never considered (see also simplistic links between climate change and violent conﬂict Myrttinen in this issue). The following empirical examples and it turned away from the problematization of women’s are illustrative of this tendency: ‘Research suggests that fertility as a source of resource scarcity (see also Corry, women are disproportionately affected by climate change’ 2014). At closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent (PCCM, 2015, p. 3); ‘Women tend to be poorer, less edu- that by overcoming certain gendered subject positions and cated than men and have fewer vocational skills’ (Chin- related stereotypes, resilience discourse (re-)produces others. darkar, 2012, p. 4); ‘Women are often in the frontline in First, the transformational understanding of resilience and respect to the impacts of a changing climate’ (Nellemann the related notion of empowerment outlined in the previous et al., 2011, p. 5); ‘women, as a group, are poorer and less section is problematic. The notion of empowerment in resili- powerful than men’ (Brown, 2008, p. 34, emphasis added). ence thinking differs considerably from its meaning in femi- Thereby, the climate, migration and resilience discourse nist discourse. The notion of empowerment in resilience reproduces a range of gendered subject positions and discourse can be traced back to a neoliberal/neoconserva- related narratives that already characterized the debate on tive restructuring of social work in the UK/US in the 1980s ‘women and the environment’ in the 1980s and 1990s – in (see Pease, 2002; on the close marriage of resilience and particular the essentialist idea that women had a special

© 2017 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2017) 8:Suppl.1 Climate-induced Migration 45 relation with the environment (Frohlich€ and Gioli, 2015, p. comfortably with the new resilience agenda. For example, 144). In the 1980s ‘women and the environment’ discourse, the threat of scarcity-induced conflict is used to illustrate women’s bodily embeddedness within nature was said to the gendered impacts of environmental change. The Mercy make them more vulnerable to environmental change but Corps (2015, p. 4) report ‘Rethinking Resilience’, for example at the same time more attentive and caring for environmen- argues, with regard to the Sahel region, that men are ‘at tal problems (Agarwal, 1992, p. 121; Leach, 2007, pp. 67–68). greater risk for exposure to conflict over resources and land’. The current climate, migration and resilience discourse Women, on the contrary, are presented as potential victims, clearly rejects such simple biologistic framings. The gen- as climate change induced conflict would increase the risk dered impacts of climate change and the specialized knowl- of sexual violence (Brody et al., 2008, p. 10). Climate resili- edge of women on local ecosystems are instead linked to ence discourse also links up to the problematization of pop- gender imbalances resulting from local cultures and socio- ulation growth in developing countries, for example to economic structures (e.g. Chindarkar, 2012; Swarup et al., illustrate why migration could be seen as a successful adap- 2011, p. 27; UNISDR, 2012). The problem is, however, that tation measure: ‘migration can reduce population pressure these locally specific observations are then used to make and thus increasing environmental sustainability in climate generalized statements about women in the so-called Global change affected areas’ (PCCM, 2014, p. 4). South as a unitary category. This is clearly illustrated in the ‘ following quote: Women in the South are particularly vul- Conclusions nerable to the impacts of disasters due to skewed power relations and inequitable cultural and social norms’ (Nelle- From a gender perspective, considerable differences exist mann et al., 2011, p. 6). This tendency of generalizing, over- between the two presented ideal-typical discourses on cli- simplifying and de-contextualizing feminist insights mirrors mate change-induced migration. While the older climate, exactly what Batliwala and Dhanraj (2004) have described as conflict and migration discourse did not itself reflect or the creation of ‘gender myths’. For example, while men are focus on the gendered impacts of climate change, it was represented as the active temporary or cyclical migrants nevertheless a highly gendered discourse. In particular, it who send home remittances and thereby increase the adap- problematized population growth and the fertility of poor tive capacity of communities, women are framed as the women in the so-called Global South, and presented a ones who are left behind and thus are represented as the male-coded scientific approach of managing and controlling passive receivers of remittances (Kunz, 2008). Furthermore, climate change as a solution. Recent works on climate women who are left behind are said to face a higher vulner- change, migration and resilience did not only tone done the ability to ‘abuse and economic disempowerment’ (PCCM, alarmist threat image of waves of climate refugees with a 2015, p. 4). Even if women do migrate they are said to face more nuanced focus on livelihoods and the complexities of gender-based discrimination (Brown, 2008, p. 35). The most migratory movement. They also added gender – and the dramatic picture is painted by a UNEP report on climate existence of unequal local gender structures and traditional change and gender, which anticipates that climate change mores – as an analytical category. At the same time, how- induced disasters could increase the risk of women and girls ever, the climate, migration and resilience discourse risks to become victims of organized trafficking (Nellemann et al., reproducing stereotypical images about the special relation 2011, p. 7). The contrast could not be painted more starkly: of women in the so-called Global South with nature. State- men migrate voluntarily to increase their adaptive capacities ments that are abstracted from the local context present whereas women are being trafficked. This is not to deny women – as a unitary group – as either victims of climate that these issues pose very real problems for many women change or as ‘change agents’.Reflecting these gender myths at many places. Gender – in combination with other factors in climate change, migration and resilience discourse is including class, race, sexual orientation, education, social sta- important because discourses have a considerable influence tus, etc. – plays a crucial role for the vulnerability of people. on policies by defining which measure appear possible and Yet, statements that problematize the vulnerability of appropriate to cope with the identified problems. However, women in the Global South void of any contextualization discourses do not automatically translate into policies mea- risks falling back to a re-essentialized understanding of gen- sures and can be interpreted by practitioners and local der, where ‘women are often portrayed as a homogenous, stakeholders in different ways. Hence, further research is monolithic category’ (Frohlich€ and Gioli, 2015, p. 140). Fur- required to study actual practices of resilience promotion thermore, the exclusive focus on unequal gender structures and the question of how the subject positions and narra- in developing countries completely blurs the fact that indus- tives identified in this study become enacted and rearticu- trialized countries are marked by gender injustices, too: gen- lated on the ground. der stereotypes and sexism become problems of ‘the ’ others . Notes Third, the empirical analysis of recent policy reports revealed that resilience thinking did not completely replace 1. To identify the relevant reports I conducted an online search com- the older climate, conflict and migration storylines (see also bining multiple keywords (such as ‘climate change’, ‘migration’, ‘secu- ’ ‘ fl ’ ‘ ’ ‘ ’ ‘ ’ Methmann and Oels, 2015, p. 61). Instead, the problematiza- rity , con ict , gender , women and resilience ) and different databases including Google Scholar and Web of Science. tion of population growth, scarcity and conflicts often sits

Additionally, I manually scanned the databases of major organiza- Corry, O. (2014) ‘From Defense to Resilience: Environmental Security tions and NGOs in the development-environment-security field. beyond Neo-liberalism’, International Political Sociology, 8 (3), pp. 2. Given the interconnected nature of this emerging network it is not 256–274. possible to clearly distinguish between an academic, a policy, or a Foucault, M. (1991) ‘Politics and the Study of Discourse’, in Burchell, G., civil society discourse or to assign discursive speakers to a particular Gordon, C. and Miller, P. (eds.), The Foucault Effect: Studies in actor group. For example, NGOs are often funded by government Governmentality. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 53–72. agencies, while reports of governmental organizations are written by Frohlich,€ C. and Gioli, G. (2015) ‘Gender, Conflict, and Global academic scholars. Environmental Change’, Peace Review, 27 (2), pp. 137–146. 3. These are understood as analytical ideal-types and, even if resilience Government Office for Science (2011) Foresight: Migration and Global is the more recent discourse, it did not completely replace earlier dis- Environmental Change. Future Challenges and Opportunities. Final courses. In empirical reality both discourses continue to coexist and report. London: Crown Copyright/Government Office for Science. sometimes even overlap as we will see below. Hajer, M. A. (1995) The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological 4. For limitations of space it is not possible to sketch the contours and Modernization and the Policy Process. Oxford: Clarendon Press. the development of both discourses in full detail here. For more Hartmann, B. (2014) ‘Converging on Disaster: Climate Security and the detailed descriptions, see Bettini (2014), Boas (2015), Boas and Rothe Malthusian Anticipatory Regime for Africa’, Geopolitics, 19 (4), pp. (2016), Corry (2014) and Hartmann (2014). 757–783. 5. 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