Our Sea of Phosphate: The Diaspora of Ocean Island

Teaiwa, Katerina

doi:10.4324/9781315252421-14

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Land, although significant, does not delimit Pacific spatial, political and cultural values. It is in sea, land, and sky, and, importantly, in mobility among and across these spaces, that identity is often constructed (see also Teaiwa, 2005). Drawing on a history of navigation, travelling, seafaring, fishing and oceanic drifting, the 'sea people of the sea of islands' (Dening, 2008, p. 146) are island and sea dwellers: 'every living thing on an island has been a traveller.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Climate migrants and new identities? The geopolitics of embracing or rejecting mobility

Farbotko

Stratford

Lazrus

2015

Social & Cultural Geography

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New evidence is emerging to suggest that climate change mobility is giving effect to changing forms of island identity among Tuvaluans and i-Kiribati. This nascent shift prompts a number of questions addressed in this paper. What, for example, does climate change migration mean for island identity and its geographic performance? How does the spatialization of identity inform shared experiences of climate change, and how does identity assist in the formation of shared positions from which to advocate for change? Drawing on discourses of sedentarism and mobilization among Tuvaluan and i-Kiribati, we explore performances of identity related to climate change being fashioned and refashioned in different contexts. Migrants climatiques et nouvelles identités ? Les géopolitiques d'adoption ou de rejet de mobilité RÉSUMÉDe nouveaux éléments de preuve indiquent que la mobilité liée au changement climatique commence à donner effet à des formes changeantes d'identité insulaire chez les Tuvaluans et les i-Kiribatis. Ce changement naissant suscite un certain nombre de questions posées dans cet article. Par exemple, que signifie la migration due au changement climatique pour l'identité de l'île et sa performance géographique ? Comment la spatialisation de l'identité influencet-elle les expériences partagées du changement climatique, et comment l'identité aide-t-elle à la formation de positions partagées à partir desquelles on puisse prôner des changements ? En exploitant des discours de sédentarisme et de mobilisation chez les Tuvaluans et les i-Kiribati, nous explorons les performances d'identité liées au changement climatique façonnées et refaçonnées dans différents contextes. Migrantes climáticos y nuevas identidades? La geopolítica de aceptar o rechazar la movilidad RESUMENExiste nueva evidencia que sugiere que la movilidad de cambio climático está dando efecto a las formas cambiantes de identidad

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Climate migrants and new identities? The geopolitics of embracing or rejecting mobility

Farbotko

Stratford

Lazrus

2015

Social & Cultural Geography

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“…As a recurrent site of externally-inflicted large-scale environmental destruction, whether as a major battle ground in World War II [81], as a nuclear test range for Britain and the United States [82], or as a source of cheap phosphates [46], Kiribati has long defied the popular geographical imagination of a remote island nation. By adopting a political economy lens, this paper highlights how the phenomenon of SLR -as a valid and highly important concern for Kiribati -has been framed in such a way that the lines between ecological complexity, local environmental challenges and financially-driven interests are consistently blurred.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only a few hundred people have returned as caretakers since [46]. Colonial politics, extractivism and an uneven distribution of power, ultimately drew divisive lines between the Banabans, the Gilbertese and the Tuvaluans during the cumbersome decolonisation process [42,47].…”

Section: Extractive Experiences: the Exploitation Of Phosphate In Banabamentioning

confidence: 99%

From sea-level rise to seabed grabbing: The political economy of climate change in Kiribati

Mallin

2018

Marine Policy

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This paper presents a critical political economy perspective on recent and ongoing developments in the Pacific atoll country of Kiribati, where the issue of rising sea levels has become an incrementally politicised concern. Semi-structured interviews (n=30) with decision-makers, policy advisors, scholars, and community elders were conducted in multiple sites to scrutinise the politics that frame the country's environmental predicament. Findings indicate that: (1) irrespective of considerable scientific uncertainties and data inconsistencies, previous governments have fervently abided by a 'sinking nation paradigm', unreasonably constraining political visions of the nation's future; (2) consequentially, 'adaptation' has become a metaphor for economic development conceptions, which are tied to mounting budgetary requirements; (3) climate aid is sought for adaptation initiatives irrespective of the needs and desires of island communities; (4) incentives to develop a blue-green economy have facilitated the emergence of highly problematic deep-sea minerals (DSM) initiatives, which this study regards as precursors to seabed grabbing. The paper, therefore, posits that marine policy makers in Kiribati -and other small-island developing states (SIDS) -need to be more vigilant to wider political economic agendas when considering options for ocean and coastal governance. Researchers and practitioners have an important role to play in this regard by privileging preferences and perceptions from coastal communities, to ensure well-informed policy decisions in times of ecological uncertainty.

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“…Today, Pacific workers pick fruit in Australia alongside backpackers and undocumented migrants, doing work which residents of Australia find too difficult and too low paid (Howe et al 2019). Australian horticulture would not thrive without Pacific people: their phosphate, their bodies, their mobilities, connections which colonial powers still cannot or will not see (Teaiwa 2005;Kihara 2019). Teaiwa (2005, p. 187) writes of the 'political and poetic resonances between the past and the present, and the very material or organic forms in which such resonances were embedded.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Teaiwa (2005, p. 187) writes of the 'political and poetic resonances between the past and the present, and the very material or organic forms in which such resonances were embedded. ' Teaiwa (2005) showed how, with phosphate, indigeneity moves and does not disappear across geopolitical boundaries, albeit with injurious impacts on rights to self-determination. Banaba itself is moving through colonial systems.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropocene Shiftings: Response to Perego, E. and Scopacasa, R. The Agency of the Displaced? Roman Expansion, Environmental Forces, and the Occupation of Marginal Landscapes in Ancient Italy. Humanities 2018, 7, 116

Farbotko

2019

Humanities

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In this response to Elisa Perego and Rafael Scopacasa’s article, I reflect on connections across time and space from an Anthropocenic perspective that is, by urgent necessity, open to the unexpected. In Ancient Italy, and contemporary Tuvalu and Brazil, it is possible to find similarly unexpected ends being achieved among populations that move, whose lives are lived on ground that cannot be assumed to be inert: earth has agency, and over time, it shifts, or is flooded, or buries things. When non-elites are moving into marginal places where life is tough, where earthly agency cannot be ignored, such people are also finding themselves at the centre of major turning points in history. Mobility and survival in marginal places can offer a way to live a less colonized life.

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Our Sea of Phosphate: The Diaspora of Ocean Island

Cited by 10 publications

References 1 publication

Climate migrants and new identities? The geopolitics of embracing or rejecting mobility

Climate migrants and new identities? The geopolitics of embracing or rejecting mobility

From sea-level rise to seabed grabbing: The political economy of climate change in Kiribati

Anthropocene Shiftings: Response to Perego, E. and Scopacasa, R. The Agency of the Displaced? Roman Expansion, Environmental Forces, and the Occupation of Marginal Landscapes in Ancient Italy. Humanities 2018, 7, 116

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