Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
9-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Program
Political Science
Advisor
Carol Gould
Committee Members
Alyson Cole
Subject Categories
International Relations | Nature and Society Relations | Political Theory
Keywords
migrant, refugee, immigration, borders, sovereignty, aterritoriality, inhabit, police logic, political ecology, social ecology, decolonization, climate change, stasis
Abstract
Dramatic shifts in climate have generated a new form of global displacement. These ‘climate migrants’ challenge the notion of state sovereignty by introducing a new paradigm for global responsibility. I seek to address this emerging demand of sovereignty by outlining the normative mechanisms of state institutions when encountering displaced persons. The extreme cases of disappearing island nations creates stateless population incompatible with standard liberal values of humanitarianism and border security. My claim is that current normative institutions and principles of assistance to migrating people are insufficient to manage the international crisis of climate change. To be able to aid migrants will require a rethinking of border policy to make states accountable of their role in the crisis and/or show them to be irrelevant. I conclude with a look at how non-state actors can reframe the concept of sovereignty out of state centric principles, with a view of climate migrants as a natural occurrence resulting from unnatural situations.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Linas, Aaron, "We Refugees, Again" (2018). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2912
Included in
International Relations Commons, Nature and Society Relations Commons, Political Theory Commons