Pluralising Climate Change and Migration: An Argument in Favour of Open Futures

Abstract

This paper contextualises the relation between climate change and human migration using the concepts of neoliberalism, sovereignty and otherness. The paper is intended to provide a general account of climate change and migration research, which seeks to extend understanding of the relation beyond a focus on policy and policy-relevant research. The argument is that because the relation between climate change and migration is so vast, touching on so many aspects of life, the debate on climate change and migration needs to be pluralised. This is especially the case given the future-conditional nature of the relation between climate change and migration.