Climate Change as a Driver of Translocality: A Case Study on Ghana

Álvaro PANTALEÓN

Diplomová práce

Abstract:

Climate change has been singled out by high-profile publications and media as the sole factor responsible for future mass migrations from Africa to European borders. In response to the deterministic and generalizing nature of these estimates and predictions, this research studies the link that migrants establish between the environmental changes they experience and migration as a climate adaptation strategy. Furthermore, the overlaps between the profile and migratory behavior of those who manifest a greater presence of climate change in their migratory processes and their counterparts are analyzed. The quantitative analysis of the data collected by the Mitra|WA project in the Eastern Region and Northern Region of Ghana in 2022 demonstrates that climate change does not unilaterally drive migration; rather itemerges as a novel reality in which households continue to organize themselves translocally.This research provides an opportunity to redirect future research towards the factors that determine the agency of individuals in response to climate hazards and invites us to abandonthe sedentism bias that considers migration in West Africa as an exceptional behavior.

Abstract:

Climate change has been singled out by high-profile publications and media as the sole factor responsible for future mass migrations from Africa to European borders. In response to the deterministic and generalizing nature of these estimates and predictions, this research studies the link that migrants establish between the environmental changes they experience and migration as a climate adaptation strategy. Furthermore, the overlaps between the profile and migratory behavior of those who manifest a greater presence of climate change in their migratory processes and their counterparts are analyzed. The quantitative analysis of the data collected by the Mitra|WA project in the Eastern Region and Northern Region of Ghana in 2022 demonstrates that climate change does not unilaterally drive migration; rather itemerges as a novel reality in which households continue to organize themselves translocally.This research provides an opportunity to redirect future research towards the factors that determine the agency of individuals in response to climate hazards and invites us to abandonthe sedentism bias that considers migration in West Africa as an exceptional behavior.

Keywords

Environmental changes, Adaptation strategies, Climate-induced migration, Drivers of migration, Translocality

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 31. 5. 2023

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedoucí: Lucie Macková, M.A., Ph.D.

UNIVERZITA PALACKÉHO V OLOMOUCI

Přírodovědecká fakulta

Magisterský studijní program / obor:
Global Development Policy / Global Development Policy