Book Review: Other Areas: Migration and Climate Change
| Author | Clare Sharkey |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1478-9302.12016_52 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
traditional realist concepts and to a degree the para-
digm in security studies.
The book investigates the drivers and projected rea-
soning for defence measures against ballistic missiles
since the 1950s. The author is clear about which lens
he uses to see the world, which is helpful.The lens,
according to the author, follows the philosophical tra-
dition of the Frankfurt School and draws its theoretical
framework from the writings of Antonio Gramsci. By
clearly stating his viewpoint, the author does the reader
a favour. It is far more enjoyable to read a book that
states its viewpoint – so the arguments can be identi-
fied and thought upon. Readers who hold a different
Weltanschauung from the Gramscian theoretical frame-
work, of whom there may be a few, benefit from being
confronted by another viewpoint and will enjoy the
solid literature research.
The author puts emphasis on technology as an agent
of change and throughout the book exemplifies the
American techno-utopianism and the perception of an
engineered solution to political problems, especially in
chapter 2 (p. 46), but the question is whether technol-
ogy itself is of such importance. Naturally, the expla-
nation is ideal for neo-Marxist theory. The problem
occurs when the interpretation periodically becomes
normative, and driven by the author’s outlook. The
picture of a fear-mongering military industrial
complex, aligned with politicians, which drives the
policy comes across as simplistic and unappealing, even
if supported by the author’s brilliant intellectual dissec-
tion of past events and policy decisions. The book
reaches its zenith when the author systematically
reviews the arguments of several leading scholars, such
as Colin S. Gray and Kenneth N.Waltz, and delivers a
critique of established assumptions.The book is a good
read and contains promising intellectual stimuli.
Jan Kallberg
(University of Texas at Austin)
Migration and Climate Change by Étienne Piguet,
Antoine Pécoud and Paul De Guchteneire (eds).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. 425pp.,
£19.99, ISBN 9781107663354
This edited work approaches the controversial and
questionable notion that climate change will affect
migration by drawing on several disciplines such as
anthropology, climatology, demography, geography,
political science and law. It is one of the first attempts
to bridge the conceptual gap between migration schol-
ars and climate scholars to focus on empirical evidence
about the links between them. From the outset, the
editors highlight the problems of methodology – dif-
ferent in both fields – that have failed to consider the
full array of environment factors and the complex root
causes of migration.
The first part of the book explores the plurality of
factors that could impact upon human movement.The
contributing authors present evidence of the latest
climate change forecasts that may cause human dis-
placement and case study evidence from around the
world, in zones potentially affected by sea-level rise,
desertification, water shortages and floods.A recurr ing
theme is that human and environmental factors (often
independent from climatic factors) will be the main
determinants of the impact of climate change, and this
impact could be negated by proper public planning. In
the second section, contributors examine the concep-
tual, legal and political tools vital to the debate on
migration and climate change. Overall,the editors con-
clude that there is little evidence that climate change
has so far caused large increases in migration: it is
virtually impossible to identify groups of people who
have already been displaced by climate change alone,as
economic, political and cultural factors are also at work.
The book provides a valuable contribution to the
debate on migration and climate change, first and fore-
most as it promotes dialogue across different disciplines
and schools of methodology on the matter.It also serves
as a warning to those who would like to exaggerate the
linkage between migration and climate change for
political purposes. Indeed, the final paragraph laments
that the ‘past political confrontations about climate
change migration have probably done more to hinder
than to help the development of multilevel action strat-
egies’ (p. 426). Despite the methodological difficulties
clearly outlined in the book, the editors perhaps should
not be so hasty as to rule out the possibility that future
research could yield more convincing evidence.
However, the practical policy-orientated approach of
many of the chapters, based on the nuanced analysis of
the phenomena of migration and climate change, ought
to set the tone for confronting the challenges of human
displacement that the future may pose.
Clare Sharkey
(Independent Scholar)
258 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
© 2013 TheAuthors. Political Studies Review © 2013 Political Studies Association
Political Studies Review: 2013, 11(2)
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