Océanitude and Pacific Regionalism in the Wake of Climate Change

Océanitude and Pacific regionalism in the wake of climate change

Claudia Ledderucci1

1 University of Turin, Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, Lungo Dora Siena, 100A, 10153, Torino, TO, Italy, E-mail: [email protected]

DOI: 10.23791/550410

Abstract: The ocean is a shared space for all Pacific Island States and the common element that renders Pacific identities unique. Today, low-lying atolls are potentially exposed to rising sea levels threatening their very existence. Instead of precise borders, the ocean that washes Pacific shores could be considered as a blurry and inclusive space. Pacific identities are shaped by a network of relations unfurling across the ocean. This is echoed in Epeli Hau’ofa’s regional identity, Maurer’s Océanitude, and Titifanue’s grassroots regionalism. This paper rethinks Pacific grassroots regionalism in the wake of climate change and its impacts in Oceania. In addition to contesting the Western narrative and raising awareness among local communities, the Pacific Climate Warriors are trying to reconnect traditional inter-island links through a transnational network.

Keywords: climate change, Oceania, regionalism, océanitude, indigenous movements, Pacific Climate Warriors

[Submitted as Scientific Paper: 01 December 2020, acceptance of the revised manuscript: 13 March 2021] Source of all figures: © 350 Pacific.

Figure 1: One of the banners of the last campaign “Matagi Mālohi - Week of Action” that took place from September 20th to 27th, 2020.

4 Pacific Geographies #55 • January/February 2021 Introduction Travelling across the Pacific is not new. inative idea (Hulme 2009), a form of of different roles for local intellectuals The genealogical history of the Austro- cultural creativity (Favole 2010), foster- and non-native researchers. nesian peoples, a history of continuous ing resilience, resistance and grassroots In this sense, in the 1990s Hau’ofa movement and settlement, confirmed agency. Second, I propose to consider proposed that a common and uniting regular historical voyages between Pa- the Pacific Climate Warriors’ activities element of all Pacific cultures could be cific islands (Jolly 2007). Yet, when against climate change and their cam- the Ocean. The inheritance of this el- speaking of and imagining Oceania, our paigns to protect Pacific environments as ement and the strong value of its pro- view very often implies isolation, small- a new form of regional identity. Before tection (not least from climate change) ness, cultural and racial differences, and turning to these issues, ideas of Pacific enable the formation of a common boundedness. These imagined bounda- regionalism are briefly presented in the identity: that of Pacific Islanders. It ries do not coincide with Islanders’ vi- following section. is important to highlight that Hau’ofa sion of their island homes. Therefore, it did not propose a homogenization of is not wrong to say that the ocean is the Pacific regionalism Pacific cultures. Such common iden- principal element of Pacific identities: an Hau’ofa’s 1998 founding paper on tity grounded in the Ocean does not element that renders them unique from Pacific regionalism, The Ocean in Us, mean homogenization but diversity into others (Hau’ofa 1998). The ocean is the combined with his 1994 piece, Our Sea sameness. Oceanic identity is added to shared space of all Pacific Island States. of Islands, sparked a fundamental par- the national or local one. Moreover, National borders, established during the adigm shift in the view of the Pacific this form of regionalism was an inde- colonial time and reinforced with the in- Islands as “tiny, isolated dots in a vast pendent and native initiative, not led by dependence movements, do not always ocean” (Hau’ofa 1994:153). These publi- colonial powers, post-colonial powers confine Pacific Islanders. cations echoed the cultural effervescence or institutions for their interests as was Considering the serious threats posed that drew public attention during the the South Pacific Community (SPC). today by environmental changes to the 1970s and 1980s all over Oceania and Founded in 1947 by the colonial powers Pacific Island States, is it possible to which were substantiated by the Pacific to sustain the development of Pacific rethink a new Pacific grassroots region- Way, defined as a trait of peculiarities, Island States and Territories, the SPC alism in the wake of climate change in “a core of basic ideas and emotional dwindled the Pacific Islands. In fact, Oceania? In this paper, I argue that in- responses’’ (Crocombe 1976:3) com- SPC meetings originally only included stead of precise borders, the ocean that mon to many Pacific communities. The colonial powers with interest in the re- washes Pacific shores could be consid- amount of studies on the Pacific Way gion. Moreover, the main goal was to ered as a blurry, inclusive and connective is very extensive and it is beyond the provide technical advice on economic space (DeLoughrey 2001). Moreover, scope of this paper to analyze such a and social issues, with political issues Pacific identities are shaped by a net- concept, nonetheless it is interesting to being omitted (Shibuya 2004). For this work of relations unfurling across the note that the ideals of the Pacific Way reason, the independent Pacific Islands’ ocean. This echoes the regional identity are not shared by the totality of Pa- countries decided to give birth to the proposed by Hau’ofa (1998), considered cific intellectuals (Lawson 2010). For Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in 1971, to be a useful means to unite Pacific Is- instance, Simione Durutalo (1992:552) comprising exclusively sovereign states, landers and to make Oceania prosper- defined it as “a condition of false unity to decide on their own goals without ous and able to act when necessary as a among potentially conflicting groups’’, the interference of the colonial powers united body, bound by cultural ties: the highlighting the risk of idealization and (mostly France). There is a large liter- same grassroots regionalism concept uncritical positioning in a post-colonial ature on Pacific power and diplomatic proposed by Titifanue et al. (2017). The world. Social movements rapidly devel- agency, focusing on the region-build- similar idea of Océanitude, as explained oped to contrast colonialism and to gain ing activity for Pacific societies (see for by Maurer (2019), could be defined as independence from the former imperial example Fry 2019; Holz et al. 2016; the valorization of mobility (through the powers, using cultural traits to reiterate a Ivarature 2013) that is not analyzed in ocean) as a source of cultural rooted- native identity and local characteristics. this paper. Yet, the concept of affinity ness; or, as stated by Clifford (1997:2), In those same years, the Nuclear Free geopolitics is extremely useful in the dwelling-in-travel. and Independent Pacific movement was analysis proposed below. As defined by This study uses a discourse analysis founded (1975) to fight against nuclear Davis (2015:3), “affinity geopolitics is methodology, combining interviews with experiments and hegemony in the Pa- an approach to international relations key respondents and activists. The anal- cific. Another important festival, Mel- where security does not require domi- ysis examines indigenous strategies and anesia 2000, organized in Nouméa by nation”, instead at the core of the geo- narratives regarding climate change in the Kanak political leader Jean-Marie political relations are respect and mutual the Pacific Islands region. Information is Tjibaou took place in 1975, to present aid among communities. gathered through online sources such as the local culture to non-indigenous in- Mobility is a key issue of Hau’ofa’s 350.org, and the 350 Pacific official web- habitants of New Caledonia and to fight interpretation of cultural regionalism, page, and social media such as Facebook for independence from France (Levallois as the ocean is considered to be a wa- and Instagram. Further information also 1995). This cultural turmoil led to the terway connecting the islands, allowing stems from past research experience in emerging perspective of “cultural studies the creation of kinship and commercial New Caledonia in 2018. The aim of for Oceania’’ (Wood 2003; Teaiwa 2001) relationships to develop. It does not the paper is twofold: first, to explore consisting of the prominent use of Pa- mean that Pacific communities and their climate change in Oceania as an imag- cific epistemologies and the distinction cultures do not take into consideration

Pacific Geographies #55 • January/February 2021 5 the land, the other element at the base are complementary and not exclusive: Different kinds of assessments could of Pacific Islanders’ identity. The land they are the basis of an oceanic identity, be added to this set of environmental and the ocean are fundamental elements composed of a web of relationships problems, including social and juridi- of Pacific societies. The articulation be- unfurling through the ocean. Mobility cal ones. From a legal and institutional tween roots and routes proposed by in Oceania is not the exception, rather point of view, the possible scenario en- Clifford (1997, 2001) and the metaphor it is the rule. In modern times, travel is visioning the future uninhabitability of of the tree and the canoe to exemplify more accessible because of a particular the low-lying islands threatens interna- traditional identity suggested by Bonne- historical conjuncture: on the one hand, tional standards of justice and security maison (1985) can help explain the con- the period from the 1960s to 1970s rep- in a new way (Barnett & Adger 2003). nection between these two elements. The resented a powerful boost for the devel- How is it possible to combine the idea land is usually a symbol of attachment opment of independence movements in of loss of places and the disappearance to place in Pacific Island cultures, the different countries; on the other, Pacific of entire nations with the high mobility homeland in which indigenous people communities witnessed globalization (on whose inevitability some authors are rooted (Bonnemaison 1985; Clifford and the quest for modernity. In this disagree, see for example Kelman et al. 2001; Farbotko et al. 2018; Kempf, Her- sense, we can think of the Pacific Islands 2015) of local communities? Migration mann 2014; Kim 2020). The ancestors, and Islanders as cosmopolitan citizens could be considered as the failure of in the cornerstones of Pacific societies, ante-litteram. As explained by Maurer situ adaptation measures but also as an are buried in the land, and in this sense (2019), ethnonyms such as Kanak or adaptation strategy itself. it symbolizes where one comes from, Mā’ohi were initially used negatively by If this is the most common (yet cat- strengthening the idea of belonging. Yet the colonizers, to differentiate the native astrophic) reality pictured by the media at the same time, although significant, peoples from themselves. Between the when talking about climate change, it is land does not delimit Pacific spatial, po- 1960s and 1970s, these names were ap- also true that “not only climate change litical and cultural values (Farbotko et al. propriated and re-signified by the natives is altering our physical world, but the 2015, Di Piazza et al. 2007). In this sense, and are now commonly used to refer to idea of climate change is altering our mobility could be considered as a way to themselves and their cultures with pride social worlds” (Hulme 2009:xxviii). In be rooted (Clifford 1997). As explained (e.g. the festival named Melanesia 2000). this paper, I would like to imply a dif- by Maurer (2019), and as it can be ob- Indigeneity is therefore not a form of ferent perspective than the one usually served spending some time in Oceania, tribalism, nor a form of cultural homog- used and presented above and, follow- mobility does not represent a dispersal, enization. Rather, we could think of it as ing the analysis of Hulme (2009:xxvii) a dissolution of local peculiarities lost an articulation (Clifford 2001) of cultural arguing that climate change could repre- to the meshes of the global system. In- forms. This means not only acknowledg- sent an “inspiration for a global network stead, mobility can express added value ing cultural and historical diversities of of new, or reinvigorated, social move- through the links of local identities and all the realities that composed Oceania ments”. The creative potential for soci- cosmopolitan Pacific Islanders’ identities. but also of its similarities. eties inherent in climate changes should We could affirm, with Clifford (1997), be further emphasized. The plasticity of that mobility and travelling are a form Re-imagining climate change the concept allows one to think about of a dwelling or, as stated by Maurer It is said that climate change and the it as an imaginative resource around (2019:117) “c’est le déplacement qui impacts it entails, among them sea level which we could re-build our personal fonde l’autochtonie” (displacement is at rise, are a real threat, especially for small and collective identities and shape po- the base of autochthony) . Differently Pacific Island States (Nunn et al. 2020; litical, economic and cultural projects. from other forms of regionalism, such Klöck et al. 2019). Always considered Using climate change as an imaginative as the Négritude in the Caribbean pro- remote and marginal, Oceania seems to idea implies the opportunity to stimu- posed by Glissant (see Maurer 2019), confirm, in the mainstream discourse, late scientific research, e.g. green and Océanitude is not an exclusive move- its vulnerability in the face of inevitable sustainable energy sources, or inspire ment founded on specific characteristics global phenomena. The possible scenarios artistic representations; promoting new and/or racial traits, nor is it founded on proposed by the latest IPCC report (2018) lifestyles, rethinking the urban environ- an archipelagic identity. Océanitude rep- predict that sea level rise, sea surface ment and so on. More profoundly, this resents an open and inclusive identity. warming and consequent coral bleach- signifies a change in our thinking about This is a direct consequence of the end ing, and an increase in the frequency and nature and the future. In the words of of colonialism: the Small Island States intensity of extreme climatic events, like Hulme (2009:326): (or Large Ocean States, if we embrace cyclones, will jeopardize the habitability “[...] rather than catalyzing disagree- the shift of paradigm) are recent prod- of coral atolls in the long term (Barnett ments about how, when and where to ucts, created in the 1980s by the will of & Adger 2003). A rather persistent and tackle climate change, the idea of cli- ex-colonial powers. Before the independ- still circulating idea is that the Pacific mate change should be seen as an in- ence process, and even before colonial- islands seem destined to disappear un- tellectual resource around which our ism, the Ocean was an open waterway, derneath the ocean, swallowed up by the collective and personal identities and a blurry and inclusive space, connect- waters. This thought promotes an alarm- projects can form and take shape. We ing, not separating, Pacific shores. Fur- ist and simplistic scenario. Nevertheless, need to ask not what we can do for cli- thermore, Océanitude is not exclusively the history of ecological crisis is linked mate change, but to ask what climate based on the movement of people and with a multiplicity of different factors change can do for us”. the diaspora as the only peculiar trait of of which the current extreme weather I argue that thinking about climate that identity. Mobility and rootedness events are only a tangible consequence. change as an imaginative idea provides

6 Pacific Geographies #55 • January/February 2021 a focus on indigenous mitigation and adaptation strategies, and to represent new possibilities for social movements and Pacific regionalism. This hypothesis resonates with the theory of cultural creativity proposed by Favole (2010). Following Sahlins and his critique of despondency and dependency theories (see also Sahlins 1999), Favole overturns the ethnocentric vision about native communities as subaltern victims of the imperial West, claiming the idea of cultural creativity. In this context, creativity is understood as “the capacity of human societies, in a particular condition and bypassing numerous constraints, of creating unforeseen, emergent new forms” (Favole 2010:IX). Today, researchers face new challenges to investigate how indigenous people reconstruct, re- elaborate, and re-imagine their societies by analyzing them in relation to the outside world. In recent years, numerous societies seem to experience a period of intense artistic, political and cultural fervor in the wake of climate change. In the Pacific region, this Oceanian Figure 2: Banner and screenshot of a Zoom meeting, part of the Pacific Pawa Up Fellowship (2020) Renaissance (Hau’ofa 1994; Friedman 2007) was possible because of the (1991:119), “an island is habitable only grassroots organization fighting climate re-establishment of trans-national when it is not considered either the change in Oceania, are well-positioned connections through migration, the centre or the periphery, but rather part to represent this new kind of transna- diasporas and globalization which, even of a line that unites it with the world”. tional and regional identity (Fair 2020; if usually criticized, represents, especially Following these suggestions, we could Steiner 2015; McNamara, Farbotko after World War II, a new opportunity argue that Pacific Islands’ weakness was 2017). The network, founded in 2011 for intercultural exchange (Favole crafted by colonialism, development, and linked to the international environ- 2010:XI). Climate change could then and globalization; at the same time, mental movement 350.org, is composed be understood as a new challenge: even these processes have allowed new of young indigenous adults who want though its impacts threaten the Pacific connections. Studying the processes to create awareness about the vulner- islands and their very existence, it could of creativity means attributing agency abilities of Pacific islands, both locally be used as a cultural device, a means to and the capacity to aspire (Appadurai and internationally. They are active in reinvigorate trans-Pacific connections 2013) to the communities in question. more than fifteen Pacific island coun- and a new form of regionalism. After Faced with the flows of globalization, tries and also in the diaspora (Australia, the long invisibility and immobility due native societies do not limit themselves New Zealand and the United States). to colonial politics, the Pacific Ocean to opposing strategies of resistance The Pacific Climate Warriors embrace can finally be thought of as a “sea of and counter-hegemony, but they give environmental values, such as protection islands” (Hau’ofa 1994) in connection. life to new and unexpected cultural of the ocean, and Pacific values, such as Such connection is supported by the forms. One example is the indigenous mobility, working as a catalyst for both articulation of external and internal, response to climate change explained identity and spreading ideas, working global and local elements. Creativity in the following section. as custodians whose task is to maintain is, in fact, a process that thrives in the and nurture human relationships with encounter, but also in situations of Strong winds from Oceania the cosmos (Koya Vaka’uta et al. 2018). coexistence, in the relationships between The Pacific regionalism proposed by They made themselves known through different cultures and societies (Favole Hau’ofa in 1998 drew inspiration from their 2014 Newcastle Canoe Blockade 2010). It is not only a product of ties and the ocean and its protection as a com- in Australia. Cultural elements, such as connections but also of friction (Tsing mon inheritance. The idea of Océan- those mentioned by Kiss (2021 in this 2005). Creativity can be understood as itude proposed by Maurer (2019) as a volume) are strategic tools for activ- a tool to abandon the centre-periphery literary movement, highlights an ecolog- ists to explain scientific issues to local logic and to represent a new mode of ical consciousness that aims at marine communities through campaigns; the appropriation of modernity, which environmental protection and mobil- goal is to foster resilience and agency indeed develops hand in hand with ity as a common Pacific trait. In this in the population to protect the islands globalization. As stated by Bonnemaison sense, the Pacific Climate Warriors, a from climate change and also to pro-

Pacific Geographies #55 • January/February 2021 7 Figure 3: Storytelling series “Matagi Mālohi - Strong Winds” to promote the homonymous campaign (2019). mote a deep understanding of mitiga- they are useful in creating multimedia sponsoring a No Car Day in Tonga, tion and adaptation measures. Shifting contents such as videos or photos; they just to name only a few activities. In the “doomed fate” (McNamara & Far- can circulate information and invitations this sense, information and communi- botko 2017) attributed to them by the to live events; they give their messages cation technologies (ICTs) turn out to catastrophic future scenarios of climate and actions major visibility through the be very useful tools to mobilize Pacific change, the Pacific Climate Warriors use of hashtags (#). These activities Islanders in numerous situations. New embrace what Appadurai (2013) has foster a new kind of grassroots region- technologies are used by the Pacific defined “the capacity to aspire”, which alism and environmental consciousness Climate Warriors as a tool to aggregate is the cultural capacity to contest of the in the Pacific region. This was recently Pacific Islanders, the underlying aim al- present situation, and to imagine an al- made visible through the organization ready proposed by Hau’ofa (1998) and ternative future. of the first Fellowship Program (the Maurer (2019): a call for a grassroots re- Climate activism as promoted by the Pacific Pawa Up Fellowship) organized gionalism, which is a broad and powerful Pacific Climate Warriors is supported by online by the Pacific Climate Warriors. movement not limited to fight against the use of new media. New media rep- This program aimed “to coach Pacific climate change or advocate local impacts resents a tool through which the activists climate activists by equipping them with but to be guardians of Pacific environ- reiterate their agency, make their voices essential skills needed to make a positive ments. The Pacific Climate Warriors heard and mobilize a growing number impact in a rapidly changing landscape” could be identified aspasseurs culturels, of people to fight against the impacts (350.org 2020a), and merged into the defined by Favole and Aria (2010) as so- of global climate change. At the same 350.org campaign for a just recovery cial actors moving along borders, and time, such campaigns to raise awareness from Covid-19 (350.org 2020b). The between different universes of meaning. on environmental changes are creating latest campaign, the Matagi Mālohi Week Even if they come from Pacific Island a new sense of regionalism, of Pacific of Action that took place from Septem- States, many activists currently live in Islanders’ identity, and are uniting activ- ber 20th to 27th, 2020, gathering Pacific the diaspora allowing them to connect ists living in numerous Pacific Islands. Islanders throughout the region and with international networks and build The new media platforms perform an the diasporas (Australia, New Zealand relationships with organizations such as informative role as many people today and the United States). Pacific Climate 350.org, which have similar claims. At gather information on the internet. They Warriors are also hosting many online the same time, this privileged position also have a communicative role because and offline events for a Just Rekavary risks to distance their campaigns from they are used by the activists to exchange (just recovery). Examples of such events people living in the outer islands. Tak- information in real-time. According to include organizing art exhibitions and ing into account the articulations and Titifanue et al. (2017), social media plat- community clean-up in New Caledonia, disarticulations (Clifford 2001) within forms could be used in different ways: planting medicinal plants in Tuvalu, and the movement discloses a certain dif-

8 Pacific Geographies #55 • January/February 2021 ference between the activists and local Favole & Giordana 2018; Borgnino & concept of warrior as a classic male communities: the Pacific Climate War- Giordana 2020) or according to what figure in the Pacific is re-imagined for riors live in cosmopolitan towns or are has been defined as tidalectics, which all genders (see also George 2019; Mc- members of the diaspora in Australia, is an oceanic worldview reflecting the Namara & Farbotko 2017). A warrior New Zealand or the United States, while rhythmic fluidity of water (Brathwaite is anyone who will stand beside Pa- the majority of Pacific Islanders reside 1983; DeLoughrey 1998; Hessler 2018). cific Islands’ environmental activists, as in rural areas. While on the one hand, warriors defend their homes and their the cosmopolitanism of cities enables Conclusion world (Gard 2018). In this sense, I argue activists and leaders to connect their Other than just contesting the West- that climate change and all the conse- movement and its ecological and en- ern narrative and raising awareness quences it entails, such as sea level rise, vironmental concerns with broader re- among local communities, the Pacific represent a new possibility for Pacific alities and perspectives, on the other Climate Warriors are trying to reconnect Islanders. Rather than seeing it only as hand, this same cosmopolitanism risks traditional inter-island links through a an inevitable catastrophic event, cli- alienating ordinary people from the transnational network, renewing the mate change and the connection it could movement, which ironically defines economic, political, and kinship rela- make throughout the sea of islands, itself as a grassroots organization. Al- tions, which suddenly disappeared due could be considered as a new form of though this dichotomy between cosmo- to the divide and conquer politics of creativity and resilience (Favole 2010; politan cities and rural areas is certainly the colonial era, later replaced by the Hulme 2009). too rigid, I think it is useful to further creation of new national boundaries Nevertheless, some questions still question the connections and dis-con- and through the establishment of Ex- need to be further discussed: how do nections amongst the movement and clusive Economic Zones (EEZs). The the leaders of the movement, urban its supporters. It is necessary to ques- Pacific Climate Warriors seek to recon- dwellers, connect with local commu- tion the activists’ positioning and also nect Pacific communities through their nities, especially with those living on their ability to act on the edge of two campaigns and initiatives, overcoming outer islands? Can these leaders who different worlds: perhaps it is the city the previous colonial borders of the Na- have an assumed knowledge of the land itself, as a hybrid space, that has given tion-State and making mobility useful as accurately have a positive effect on the rise and allowed the development of a local resource instead of seeing it as islands? Can we assume that the move- transnational movements reclaiming a negative quality. This has been done ment is not well-rooted in the local a form of Pacific regionalism, under- before by other movements, such as social fabric, but represents instead an stood here as an articulated tradition the Polynesian Voyaging Society which exogenous model imposed by foreign (Clifford 2001). This relationship is aimed to pass on traditional voyaging influences? And if so, to what extent it is made possible due to the kinship and methods that risked to be lost due to not a real imposition on the local social diplomatic connections with neighbor- colonial banning. There was also the fabric but rather an adoption or re-ap- ing nations. At the same time, mobility Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific propriation of this exogenous model by placed the activists in a dynamic relation movement, and the regional protests the activists themselves? Can the city be between the cosmopolitan city and the against the resumption of the nuclear thought of as a social laboratory within rural areas and/or outer islands. Cities testing in Moruroa in 1995. The pro- which different practices meet and col- are laboratories in which indigenous tection of the environment is at the lide, giving rise to new forms of protest worlds and modern practices inter- core of the affinity geopolitics (Davis or resistance? On the other hand, can mingle. The urban dimension, even in 2015) supported by the Pacific Climate urban centres also be seen as places that Oceania, led to an articulation of en- Warriors, a system based on cross-ocean reproduce social inequalities reflected in vironmental and eco-critical ideas with linkages of affinity and solidarity. The different ways? place-based environmental knowledge from rural areas in Pacific islands. This articulation paved the way for student associations, grassroots movements and transnational organizations. What remains to explore is the relationship between these movements and people from rural areas. On the one hand, this situation could lead to the perpetuation of the centre-periphery dynamics. This critique was first proposed by Durutalo (1992:253), who feared the Pacific Way to be an uncritical idealization of Pa- cific identity. Such idealization, in his thought, risked to obscure the diversities of Pacific cultures and identities and to hide power inequalities. On the other hand, island studies scholars are trying to rethink this dichotomy in an archipelagic way (Baldacchino 2008; Figure 4: Pacific Climate Warriors protesting at the Climate Strike (September 27th, 2019).

Pacific Geographies #55 • January/February 2021 9 Acknowledgment Authoritarianism in the Pacific Islands. In: Foerstel Kelman, I., Stojanov, R., Kahn, S., Alvarez Gila, I would like to thank the editors, L., Gilliam A. (eds.) Confronting the Margaret O., Duzi, B., Vikhrov, V., (2015). Viewpoint paper. Mead Legacy. Philadelphia, Temple University Press, Islander mobility: any change from climate change? Elisabeth Worliczek and Matthias 205-232. International Journal of Global Warming 8(4), 585- Kowasch, for making this issue possible Fair, H., (2020). Their Sea of Islands? Pacific 602. and all their work since we met at the Climate Warriors, Oceanic Identities, and World Kempf, W. & Hermann, E. (2014). Epilogue. Uncer- Vienna Anthropology Days Conference Enlargement, The Contemporary Pacific 32(2), tain Futures of Belonging. Consequences of Climate 341-369. Change and Sea-level Rise in Oceania. In: Hermann, last year. I would also like to thank the Farbotko, C., McMichael, C., Dun, O., Ransan- E., Kempf, W., van Meijl, T. (eds.) Belonging in two anonymous reviewers for their Cooper, H., McNamara, K., Thornton, F. (2018). Oceania. Movement, Place-Making and Multiple comments and suggestions. Lastly, I Transformative mobilities in the Pacific: Promoting Identification. Berghahn, New York, 189-213. would like to thank the Pacific Climate adaptation and development in a changing climate. Kim, M. (2020). Nesor Annim, Niteikapar (Good Asia Pac Policy Stud. 5, 393-407. Morning, Cardinal Honeyeater). The Contemporary Warriors for their dedication to the Farbotko, C., Stratford, E., Lazrus, H. (2015). Pacific. 32(1), 147-163. Pacific Islands, as well as their support Climate migrants and new identities? The geopolitics Kiss, W. (2021). “Ariki meets Tangata manu” and approval of this paper. of embracing or rejecting mobility. 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Corresponding Author: Claudia Ledderucci [[email protected]] is a PhD candidate at the University of Florence and the University of Turin. She graduated in Cultural Anthropology at Sapienza University of Rome presenting a dissertation on the social construction of climate change and indigenous narratives, based on her fieldwork research in New Caledonia. Her current research focuses on the nuclear legacy in French Polynesia.

10 Pacific Geographies #55 • January/February 2021