Ambio
Volume 47, Issue 5, 2018, Pages 557-573

A discursive review of the textual use of ‘trapped’ in environmental migration studies: The conceptual birth and troubled teenage years of trapped populations (Review)

Ayeb-Karlsson S.* , Smith C.D. , Kniveton D.
  • a University of Sussex, Chichester I, Brighton, BN1 9QJ, United Kingdom, United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, Bonn, 531 13, Germany
  • b University of Sussex, Arts C, Brighton, BN1 9SJ, United Kingdom
  • c University of Sussex, Chichester I, Brighton, BN1 9QJ, United Kingdom

Abstract

First mooted in 2011, the concept of Trapped Populations referring to people unable to move from environmentally high-risk areas broadened the study of human responses to environmental change. While a seemingly straightforward concept, the underlying discourses around the reasons for being ‘trapped’, and the language describing the concept have profound influences on the way in which policy and practice approaches the needs of populations at risk from environmental stresses and shocks. In this article, we apply a Critical Discourse Analysis to the academic literature on the subject to reveal some of the assumptions implicit within discussing ‘trapped’ populations. The analysis reveals a dominant school of thought that assisted migration, relocation, and resettlement in the face of climate change are potentially effective adaptation strategies along a gradient of migrant agency and governance. © 2018, The Author(s).

Author Keywords

Environmental migration critical discourse analysis immobility Trapped Populations Climate change Textual analysis

Index Keywords

population migration literature review environmental exposure Transients and Migrants Climate change environmental risk adaptive management environmental health social mobility environmental change environmental stress development discourse Population Dynamics environmental conditions human Humans texture migration
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85041903376&doi=10.1007%2fs13280-017-1007-6&partnerID=40&md5=60b9bc381b515da186a74aa51a602784
DOI: 10.1007/s13280-017-1007-6
ISSN: 00447447
Cited by: 6
Original Language: English