Transforming policy
RESEARCH
“THE VALUE OF HAWAI`I 3: HULIHIA, THE TURNING”
Goodyear-Kaōpua, N., Howes, C., Osorio, J.K.K., & Yamashiro, A. (Eds.). (2020). The Value of Hawai`i 3: Hulihia, the Turning. University of Hawai`i Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1pncr2m
Dr. Kealoha Fox, Professor Maxine Burkett, and Naima Te Maile wrote sections for The Value of Hawaiʻi 3: Hulihia, the Turning which offers multigenerational visions of a Hawaiʻi not defined by the United States.
"RESIDENTS OF HAWAI`I’S CLIMATE DECISIONS TO REMAIN OR MIGRATE"
Pucker, I, McCauley, M., Fox, K., and Jacobel, A. (2022). Residents of Hawaiʻi's Climate Decisions to Remain or Migrate. Journal of Ecopsychology. Ahead of print. http://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2022.0027
The project reflects a collaborative effort between a team of four women researchers–Isabella Pucker (ICP Apprentice), Dr. Michelle McCauley, Dr. Kealoha Fox (ICP President), and Dr. Allison Jacobel–with expertise in a wide range of topics, including psychology, peace studies, climate change, earth studies, oceanography, and community-based research. The research was published in Ecopsychology, the only peer-reviewed journal that places psychology and mental health in an ecological context to recognize the links between human health, culture, and the health of the planet. The article examines the social and psychological factors underlying the decisions of coastal residents in Hawaiʻi to consider migration in response to increasing climate-related threats. Of the data collected, seven main themes showed across the majority of the interviews: rootedness, safety and security, uncertainty and fear, first hand observation of changes, solastalgia, distrust and resentment, and legacy.
"BEHIND THE VEIL: CLIMATE MIGRATION, REGIME SHIFT, AND A NEW THEORY OF JUSTICE"
Burkett, Maxine, Behind the Veil: Climate Migration, Regime Shift, and a New Theory of Justice (2018). Harvard Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review. Vol. 53, 2018.
Climate change is as much a sociopolitical phenomenon as it is a geophysical one. Beyond contentious domestic politics and the intricacies of global climate governance, evinced by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”) and over 25 years of subsequent negotiation, unabated climate change promises to upend centuries-old efforts to bring order and stability to communities across the globe. No one effect of climate change demonstrates that more than the loss of habitability driving climate-induced displacement, migration, and relocation. Though discussed at the periphery of legal and policy discourse (mostly in academia), decision-makers will soon have to confront loss of physical territory and the unviability of many places human communities currently call home. Further, and consistent with so many of climate change’s worst impacts, the least responsible for climate upheaval will be subject to the most disruption—whether it is as a migrant or a host of those who have moved. In the United States, indigenous communities are at the frontlines of planned relocation with no comprehensive framework for response or a determination of individual and community rights in the process. To effect security and well-being—a mandate for functioning legal systems—a swift response is critical. Further, most ethical frameworks demand a just and equitable response
"IN SEARCH OF REFUGE: PACIFIC ISLANDS, CLIMATE INDUCED MIGRATION, AND THE LEGAL FRONTIER"
Burkett, Maxine, In Search of Refuge: Pacific Islands, Climate-Induced Migration, and the Legal Frontier (January 1, 2011). Asia Pacific Issues, No. 98, January 2011.
As the effects of climate change intensify, time is running out for millions living in Pacific-Asia coastal and island communities. Many will be forced to leave their homes within the next half-century because of increased intensity and frequency of storms and floods, sea-level rise, and desertification. The low-lying small islands states of the Pacific are especially endangered; residents there may lose not only their homes, but their entire nations. Planning aimed at avoiding humanitarian disaster and political chaos should already have begun, but a stumbling block is international law, which is not prepared to address the cross-cutting impacts of climate and migration. Finding viable solutions will require new ways of thinking, pushing the law to a new frontier that calls for a reconsideration of existing legal boundaries.
WRITING FOR THE COMMUNITY
“THIS WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, LET’S LOOK TO THE PRESENT”
This Community Voice commentary column written by ICP Executive Director, Zelda Keller, ran on the Honolulu Civil Beat website on March 19th, 2020.
"THE FUTURE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND PEACE"
This Uncharted Territory column co-written by ICP co-founders Maya Soetoro and Maxine Burkett, ran on the New Security Beat website on March 26th, 2020.
"THE PEACE MOVEMENT NEEDS A REBRAND"
ICP co-founder, Maya Soetoro-Ng, calls for reshaping the way we talk about peace by focusing on “positive peace” to inspire a reformed and improved method of leadership.
"YOUTH LEADERSHIP NEEDED IN TIME OF CLIMATE UNCERTAINTY"
ICP co-founders, Maxine Burkett and Maya Soetoro-Ng, partnered to co-write this “Community Voice” commentary column featured in the Honolulu Civil Beat discussing the need for young voices to be included in our fight against climate change.