The political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: Alaska Natives, displacement, and relocation
Although much research on climate change has focused on its disproportionate effects on the Global South, communities—particularly indigenous populations—within "developed" nations in the Global North can also face significant effects and inadequate assistance. One example is the native vi...
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2012
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2458/v19i1.21725 https://doaj.org/article/e85250796df940eb81bb5bdbbf7b67df |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:e85250796df940eb81bb5bdbbf7b67df 2023-05-15T15:13:24+02:00 The political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: Alaska Natives, displacement, and relocation Christine Shearer 2012-12-01 https://doi.org/10.2458/v19i1.21725 https://doaj.org/article/e85250796df940eb81bb5bdbbf7b67df en es fr eng spa fre University of Arizona Libraries 1073-0451 doi:10.2458/v19i1.21725 https://doaj.org/article/e85250796df940eb81bb5bdbbf7b67df undefined Journal of Political Ecology, Vol 19, Iss 1, Pp 174-183 (2012) envir socio Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2012 fttriple https://doi.org/10.2458/v19i1.21725 2023-01-22T18:10:35Z Although much research on climate change has focused on its disproportionate effects on the Global South, communities—particularly indigenous populations—within "developed" nations in the Global North can also face significant effects and inadequate assistance. One example is the native village and city of Kivalina in northwest Alaska. Through a case study of Kivalina, this article explores the gaps in U.S. policy for relocating Alaska Natives due to the effects of climate change. There is currently no policy in place—within the United States or internationally—for the resettlement of communities displaced by climate change. And in the United States there is no lead agency in charge of relocating displaced communities, despite several U.S. government reports stating that at least four Alaska Native villages, including Kivalina, must be resettled due to warming Arctic temperatures and erosion. This leaves government agencies in charge of assisting villages like Kivalina, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, who are responsible for helping ensure Kivalina's safety but are not empowered to innovate new procedures and holistically address what is an unprecedented problem: climate change. This has left Kivalina in what is termed here an administrative orbit, with residents made to work their way through a patchwork of various government programs and procedures that are time-consuming and often insufficient. In exploring these intra-national inequities, this article examines how a protocol specifically designed for those displaced by climate change, such as "climigration," could be merged with existing government efforts around emergency management to help prevent disasters before they occur, and to protect at-risk communities like Kivalina. Keywords: Disaster management; Alaska: environmentally induced migration; indigenous studies; resilience; displacement; relocation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Alaska Unknown Arctic Journal of Political Ecology 19 1 |
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envir socio Christine Shearer The political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: Alaska Natives, displacement, and relocation |
topic_facet |
envir socio |
description |
Although much research on climate change has focused on its disproportionate effects on the Global South, communities—particularly indigenous populations—within "developed" nations in the Global North can also face significant effects and inadequate assistance. One example is the native village and city of Kivalina in northwest Alaska. Through a case study of Kivalina, this article explores the gaps in U.S. policy for relocating Alaska Natives due to the effects of climate change. There is currently no policy in place—within the United States or internationally—for the resettlement of communities displaced by climate change. And in the United States there is no lead agency in charge of relocating displaced communities, despite several U.S. government reports stating that at least four Alaska Native villages, including Kivalina, must be resettled due to warming Arctic temperatures and erosion. This leaves government agencies in charge of assisting villages like Kivalina, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, who are responsible for helping ensure Kivalina's safety but are not empowered to innovate new procedures and holistically address what is an unprecedented problem: climate change. This has left Kivalina in what is termed here an administrative orbit, with residents made to work their way through a patchwork of various government programs and procedures that are time-consuming and often insufficient. In exploring these intra-national inequities, this article examines how a protocol specifically designed for those displaced by climate change, such as "climigration," could be merged with existing government efforts around emergency management to help prevent disasters before they occur, and to protect at-risk communities like Kivalina. Keywords: Disaster management; Alaska: environmentally induced migration; indigenous studies; resilience; displacement; relocation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Christine Shearer |
author_facet |
Christine Shearer |
author_sort |
Christine Shearer |
title |
The political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: Alaska Natives, displacement, and relocation |
title_short |
The political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: Alaska Natives, displacement, and relocation |
title_full |
The political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: Alaska Natives, displacement, and relocation |
title_fullStr |
The political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: Alaska Natives, displacement, and relocation |
title_full_unstemmed |
The political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: Alaska Natives, displacement, and relocation |
title_sort |
political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: alaska natives, displacement, and relocation |
publisher |
University of Arizona Libraries |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.2458/v19i1.21725 https://doaj.org/article/e85250796df940eb81bb5bdbbf7b67df |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Political Ecology, Vol 19, Iss 1, Pp 174-183 (2012) |
op_relation |
1073-0451 doi:10.2458/v19i1.21725 https://doaj.org/article/e85250796df940eb81bb5bdbbf7b67df |
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undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2458/v19i1.21725 |
container_title |
Journal of Political Ecology |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766343952652304384 |