Shifting Safeties and Mobilities on the Land in Arctic North America: A Systematic Approach to Identifying the Root Causes of Disaster

Katy Davis, James D. Ford, Claire H. Quinn, Anuszka Mosurska, Melanie Flynn, Research Team Ihacc and Sherilee L. Harper
Additional contact information
Katy Davis: Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
James D. Ford: Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Claire H. Quinn: School of Earth & Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Anuszka Mosurska: Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Melanie Flynn: Priestley International Centre for Climate, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Research Team Ihacc: Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change Research Team, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada
Sherilee L. Harper: School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-23

Abstract: Amid the surge in research on mobility and migration in the context of environmental change, little research has focused on the experiences of people for whom travel is cyclical and a part of daily, weekly, or seasonal life. For Inuit in Arctic North America, the land is the heart of cultural and community life. Disruption to time spent on the land is reported to impact the emotional health and well-being of individuals and communities. There is concern that environmental change is creating barriers to safe travel, constituting a creeping disaster. We systematically review and evaluate the literature for discussion of barriers to travel for Inuit in Arctic North America, using an approach from the field of disaster anthropology to identify root causes of constraints to mobility. We identify root causes of risk and barriers to time spent on the land. These emerge from historic and contemporary colonial policy and inequality, as opposed to environmental hazards per se, impacting people’s mobility in profound ways and enacting a form of slow violence. These results suggest a need to understand the underlying processes and institutions that put people at risk.

Keywords: Inuit; disaster; climate change; Arctic; root causes; environmental justice; mobilities; risk; colonialism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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