Call for Papers


International Conference:


Migration, Environment and Climate: What risk inequalities?


Paris, France, 22‐23 October 2018


Deadline for submissions: 20 June 2018


See attached call for papers in PDF.


In partnership with the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) and with the support of the Agence française de développement (AFD), the French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) and the French Museum of Natural History (MNHN) are organizing an international conference on the links between human mobility, climate and environmental changes. The aim is to capture the complexity and multiplicity of interactions between migration and environment as brought to light by recent or ongoing research, taking explicit account of inequalities in the populations under study. The approach aims to be broad‐based, and proposals are welcome not only from the field of demography but also from related disciplines (geography, anthropology, sociology, economics, epidemiology or political science).


Reciprocal relationships
The links between environmental change and mobility are multiple and complex. Environmental changes have an undeniable effect on human mobility, as attested by the large numbers of "climate refugees". Whether due to a sudden shock (a natural catastrophe for example) or gradual environmental damage such as repeated droughts, soil impoverishment or the progressive disappearance of land available for farming or livestock, environmental transformations are forcing large populations to leave their homes. These responses to environmental change may take the form of temporary local displacements or more long‐term migration over greater distances or even across international borders.


Individuals are not all affected in the same way, however, and their responses may vary. Some can migrate more easily because they have a well‐established family or social network outside their home region, or because they can readily deploy their work skills elsewhere. Populations may stay in place despite the difficulties they face because they lack the resources to migrate or because the risk of remaining is known and accepted. Local strategies implemented by populations themselves or by governments respond to these changes. For example, crop diversification or the construction of protective infrastructures (dykes for example) may allow populations to stay in place, even if risk increases. Migration is often seen as a final resort.

 

Human mobility itself has an environmental impact. In rural areas, large migrant inflows may lead to rapidly increasing population densities in certain localities, often accompanied by increased land clearance or even severe deforestation. However, the movement of families and individuals also introduces new practices and knowledge brought from elsewhere, as well as new ways of interacting with the environment. Here too, inequalities within populations – both migrant and non‐migrant – deserve to be analysed more fully.

 

Inequalities which structure adaptation mechanisms and departures
Inequalities are present throughout human societies. While the natural environment is important in daily life – notably for vital needs (water) or farming activities (land) – not everyone has the same relationship with it. The vulnerability of individuals and families to environmental change varies according to the link between their lifestyle and their environment. Conversely, humans do not all act upon the environment in the same way – certain economic activities and lifestyles have a greater impact than others. It is important to explore the concept of environmental justice, in relation to migration, but without focusing solely on this aspect in the study of structural inequalities in the outgoing and incoming populations.

 

Exploring relationships with the environment at migrant destinations
Not all migrants, displaced people or new arrivals have the same relationship to the environment. Some integrate more easily and more permanently than others in their place of destination, depending on their personal skills, their resources (savings), the support they receive (family, government), and on the conditions of their departure (forced migration or not). These inequalities at destination mean that the environmental effects of migration vary in extent. Depending on the intention to settle permanently or otherwise, and the urgency of needs, attitudes to the environment may differ. As a consequence, major environmental inequalities arise in access to resources (land, water, wood) and in medium‐ and long‐term resource management.

 

Environmental Inequalities by age, sex and activity
The effects of environmental change and the decision to migrate are also sources of Inequalities. A situation of profound inequality may arise when an environmental change occurs. A single event (cyclone, tsunami, flood, etc.) may be perceived in different ways and affect local populations differently, with the most disadvantaged people being most severely affected. Even in the case of a catastrophe such as Fukushima, which led to the evacuation of all people living within a 30km radius, certain inhabitants were reluctant to leave. People of different ages may also be affected differently, as illustrated by the European heatwave of 2003. Likewise, the effects may differ by gender. For example, as wells dry up or become privately owned, male herders are obliged to travel further from their homes during the dry season.

 

Inequalities in social networks
Access to support via a strong social network is also a source of inequality between individuals or households – enabling some to stay and others to leave. The family plays a key role in this respect, at both origin and destination.

 

Inequalities in health
Even when the health – and even survival – of the population is at stake, the responses to environmental change are varied. This has been observed in nuclear catastrophes, but also after extreme weather events that led to a shortage of drinking water, for example. The high pollution levels in major cities or close to industrial sites do not discourage new arrivals, and neither do they prompt mass departures. In addition, depending on the context, poor health may be associated with a reluctance to move or, on the contrary, the act of leaving. This link between mobility (or immobility) and health in a context of environmental change deserves to be explored.

 

Appropriate data sources and research methods
By nature difficult to measure, human mobility, like environmental change, provides substantial scope for methodological innovation. As well as exploiting the abundant sources of data – from satellite images to population censuses – there is a need to approach the ongoing transformation on a more local scale, using methods suited to the research context and objectives. We will focus in particular on the characterization of environmental changes and their relationship with migration.

 

In other words, this conference aims to better understand how populations respond to environmental change, of whatever kind, and how the environment is transformed as a result of human mobility. In the paper proposals, it will be important to specify the type of environmental change addressed, the methods applied and the data sources used. Papers based on in‐depth fieldwork will be especially welcome.

 

Submission procedure:

Please send abstracts (a short 200‐word abstract and an extended abstract of 2 to 4 pages, including tables, figures and references) to mob‐env@ined.fr by 20 June 2018 at the latest. Abstracts (or papers) may be submitted in English or in French. A poster session will also be organised. Please indicate in your message whether you need financial support. Applicants will be informed whether their papers are accepted by 15 July 2018.

 

Scientific committee :

  • Cris Beauchemin, Institut National d’études démographiques (Ined)
  • Richard E. Bilsborrow, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Stéphanie Dos Santos, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
  • Stéphanie Duvail, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
  • Bénédicte Gastineau, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
  • Valérie Golaz, Institut National d’études démographiques (Ined)
  • Lori M. Hunter, Colorado University Population Center
  • Mathias Kuepie, Agence Française de développement (AFD)
  • Gilles Pison, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
  • Aurélie Sand, Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES)
  • Jacques Véron, Institut National d’études démographiques (Ined)