UPSC SOCIOLOGY MAINS SYLLABUS
Paper 1 – Chapter 5 – Stratification and Mobility:
(a) Concepts- equality, inequality, hierarchy, exclusion, poverty and deprivation
(b) Theories of social stratification- Structural functionalist theory, Marxist theory, Weberian theory.
(c) Dimensions – Social stratification of class, status groups, gender, ethnicity and race.
(d) Social mobility- open and closed systems, types of mobility, sources and causes of mobility.
10. Social Change in Modern Society:
(a) Sociological theories of social change.
(b) Development and dependency.
(c) Agents of social change.
(d) Education and social change.
(e) Science, technology and social change.
INTRODUCTION
The impacts of climate change are numerous and may both trigger displacement and worsen living conditions or hamper return for those who have already been displaced. Hazards resulting from the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as abnormally heavy rainfall, prolonged droughts, desertification, environmental degradation, or sea-level rise and cyclones are already causing an average of more than 20 million people to leave their homes and move to other areas in their countries each year.
CLIMATE REFUGEES?
A “refugee” is defined as a person who has crossed an international border “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion” (1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees). The term “climate refugee” is not endorsed by UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), and it is more accurate to refer to “persons displaced in the context of disasters and climate change.”
DATA
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an annual average of 21.5 million people have been forcibly displaced by weather-related events – such as floods, storms, wildfires and extreme temperatures – since 2008. These numbers are expected to surge in coming decades with forecasts from international thinktank the IEP predicting that 1.2 billion people could be displaced globally by 2050 due to climate change and natural disasters.
HISTORICAL INSTANCES OF CLIMATE INDUCED DISPLACEMENT
Since prehistoric times, the geographical distribution of the population on the planet has been largely shaped by environmental and climatic conditions drivers. Some 40,000 years ago, Europe was settled in part thanks to its mild climate and abundant natural resources. The earthquake that destroyed the city of Lisbon in 1755 led to mass displacements, while the Dust Bowl migration that took place in the US in the 1930s is another classic example of human mobility associated with environmental events, though such events cannot be disentangled, as it is often the case, from the broader socio-economic context. Severe droughts, combined with poor agricultural techniques that depleted the soils of Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas, left thousands of farmers with no other choice than to sell their farms and move westwards to California.
CLIMATE EVENTS AND MOBILITY
The relationship between climate change and human mobility is rather complex. Not only can climate change directly impact mobility outcomes (this is especially the case in the aftermath of sudden-onset events), but it can also influence and interact with other drivers of human mobility. The social context also matters: factors such as poverty, marginalization and inequality exacerbate the impacts of climate change and disasters. Different patterns of human mobility will thus arise from climate change and disasters, depending on the nature of these events and the contextual factors of the population they affect. These different mobility outcomes will, in turn, have diverse consequences for individuals and communities – both at origin and destination – in terms of urbanization, livelihoods, and social relations.
Sudden-onset events mainly lead to temporary, short-distance displacement (mostly within national borders), whereas slow-onset phenomena tend to lead to more permanent migration or displacement as they affect local ecosystem services and employment opportunities. Mobility, however, cannot be represented as either temporary or permanent, but as moving in a continuum ranging between the two. Weather-induced disasters may lead, for example, to permanent displacement if the economy or the infrastructure of the area are badly hit in the aftermath of the event. Seasonal, or circular, migration is also becoming an essential strategy to adapt to climatic variability. In Ghana, for example, where agricultural production is increasingly affected by unpredictable rainfall patterns and heatwaves, seasonal migration has become a successful adaptation strategy. A multiplicity of factors – such as the presence of financial and social capital, the willingness to take risks, access to information and migration aspirations – should all be taken into account to understand the less or more forced nature of climate-induced mobility.
CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE-INDUCED MOBILITY
Human mobility has the potential to positively affect socioeconomic outcomes by increasing the earning capacities of migrants and non-migrants alike. This is one of the main premises of the ‘migration as adaptation’ discourse. On the one hand, rural- urban migrants usually benefit from higher incomes and more stable jobs (than those who stay in rural areas), which can serve to close the rural-urban gap, and enhance household resilience to climate change impacts. Mobility allows for households that are highly dependent on agriculture and natural resources (thus highly vulnerable to climate change) to supplement incomes through remittances, diversify livelihoods, and act as a form of insurance. As for the impacts of migration and displacement in destination areas, these are manifold. In cities with labour shortages in low-skilled sectors such as construction and transport, for example, mobility can enhance the resilience of destination areas as migrants fill these gaps, fuelling the economic growth of the region.
In addition, mobility can foster the transfer of knowledge and skills both in origin and destination areas. Migrants and displaced people can generate positive impacts in home communities by remotely transferring knowledge and skills through diaspora networks, businesses, social remittances, and partnerships with international organizations, to name a few.
One particularity, however, of climate-induced displacement is rapid and unplanned urbanization. Sudden movements to urban areas increase the burden on service provision and infrastructure of cities, both of which are already inadequate in most urban centers in low- income nations. Moreover, this rapid urbanization has been accompanied by a rapid growth of highly vulnerable urban communities, many of which end up living in slums and makeshift housing in urban peripheries . Unsurprisingly, this has led urban areas to become increasingly exposed to the impacts of climate change: sea-level rise, coastal erosion, flash flooding, heat stress, drought and increasing water scarcity are only a few of the surging threats. Sudden pressures to accommodate incoming migrants, as well as in the labour market, can create social tensions and conflicts.
CONCLUSION
In a context of gradual impacts of climate change, displacement is often a survival response, while migration can be an adaptation strategy. Both migrants and displaced people however should be considered as agents with capacities and resilience, but also potential needs for external assistance and protection. On the other hand, voluntary, informed and dignified migration may provide an important option to adapt and enable resilience to climate and environmental changes.
