Title:
|
The securitisation of climate migration : securitisation as a strategy in climate change politics:
analysing interactions between the UK and Indian
governments
|
The issue of climate migration has been gIven the image of a mass phenomenon
threatening peace and security. This suggests that this issue has been subject of the process
called securitisation, in which non-traditional security issues are discussed and/or acted
upon in terms of security and thereby drawn into the security domain. This PhD thesis
examines in what manner, to what extent, and with what political consequences climate
migration is securitised, and analyses what explains the course of the process.
Classical literature on securitisation assumes that securitisation is a straightforward
process, with specific outcomes. Instead, I argue that the securitisation of climate
migration is not clear-cut, but takes on various forms and meanings. I conduct such an
analysis of securitisation by means of a flexible, contextualised and interactive framework
for analysis. In this framework, I integrate the four schools of thought on securitisation: the
Copenhagen School, the Paris School, Critical Security Studies, and the Risk School. The
framework allows for a flexible application of their theoretical insights. It assumes that a
securitisation process can take on various meanings, shaped by the context in which it is
situated and by interaction processes between the actors involved. Through an analysis of
context and of dynamic processes of interaction that shape the securitisation process, it
becomes apparent which insights of the four schools can be applied to explain the
securitisation process at hand.
The securitisation of climate migration is examined in a study of the UK's Foreign
& Commonwealth Office (FCO)'s securitising move on climate migration and the
response to this move by the Government of India. In this study, I apply the framework for
analysis to trace the diverse and complex manner in which a securitisation process
develops. I show how the FCO used a security narrative on climate migration as a strategy
to convince other countries, such as India, to sign up to binding mitigation targets under
the UN climate convention. The FCO hoped that countries would sign up to binding
mitigation targets when knowing that a failure to address climate change could result in
climate migration. I examine how India has reacted to such arguments and demonstrate
that it has worked in a counterproductive way. The FCO's securitising move compounded
a difficult negotiation environment on climate change, and it risks legitimatising India's
strict border measures to halt Bangladeshi immigration. As a final step, I review how this
(unsuccessful) securitisation process affects the UK's and India's positions in climate
change negotiations, and analyse how the FCO is moving towards an economic prosperity
narrative to increase the effectiveness of its climate change diplomacy.
|