Risky places: climate change discourse and the transformation of place on Moch (Federated States of Micronesia)

Pam, Christine;Henry, Rosita

Abstract

Scientific predictions of climate change that place small islands 'at risk' from sea-level rise and an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events are well accepted by Small Island States. This paper discusses responses to climate change discourse on Moch Island, a coral atoll in the Mortlock Islands of Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia. We examine climate change discourse in terms of how it contributes to the constitution of 'risky environments', and focus on how the concept of 'risk' contributes to the way that people currently engage with and understand their island places. Whilst a past history of human resourcefulness in response to social and environmental change in the Pacific is well documented in the literature, the contemporary discourse of climate change introduces a notion of risk that stifles people's agency and trust in the effectiveness of their own knowledge and practices.

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Shima

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1834-6057

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Southern Cross University

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