Dear colleagues,

 

Please find our CFP for the NZGS / IAG 2018 conference 11-14 July 2018 below:

 

Climate change and new geographies of displacement

Convenors:  Fiona Miller (Macquarie University), Sophie Webber (University of Sydney), Celia McMichael (University of Melbourne), Joseph Rickson (Macquarie University)

Both the direct impacts of climate change, as well as responses to climate change in the form of mitigation and adaptation projects, are creating new geographies of displacement - transforming people’s relations to place, community and livelihoods. Whilst mobility and displacement have long been central to the uneven development that characterises the Asia Pacific region, climate change is contributing to new and intensified forms of displacement. Forced resettlement typically has adverse consequences for people’s well-being. Yet, the relocation of communities is now actively being planned and implemented – as well as resisted - in a number of climate vulnerable places. For geographers, we might ask: how can critical development theories inform understanding of these emerging geographies of displacement and climate change? Do such interventions reflect what Li (2007) refers to as the ‘will to improve’ inherent to the development project? How do communities and researchers engage with institutions involved in displacement? How are relations to place, community and economy transformed by displacement and the ongoing impacts of climate change? What methods support ethical engagement with, and the co-production of knowledge by, people who experience and anticipate displacement? We invite papers that begin to map the geographies of displacement and, in so doing, reveal the disproportionate burden climate change impacts and responses are having on vulnerable communities.

Key words: Critical development geography; climate change; displacement; migration; forced resettlement; adaptation

Please send abstracts of 150-200 words to Fiona Miller <fiona.miller@mq.edu.au>, Sophie Webber <sophie.webber@sydney.edu.au>, Celia McMichael <celia.mcmichael@unimelb.edu.au> and Joseph Rickson joseph.rickson@mq.edu.au by 30 March. Participants will then need to nominate this session when they submit their abstract to the conference website.