Narratives of health resilience: Prescribed confinement, forced displacement, and the stakes of global climate change

According to the International Organization for Migration: “Climate migration is a subcategory of environmental migration; it defines a singular type of environmental migration, where the change in the environment is due to climate change. Migration in this context can be associated with greater vulnerability of affected people, particularly if it is forced” (2019, 31). In the past two decades, natural disasters linked with climate change have significantly impacted global health and coerced affected populations to either confine themselves within homes (in case of severe heat waves and blizzards) or migrate (in case of recurring droughts, forest fires, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, etc.). This coerced resilience in the form of confinement or migration has impacted the health of the affected peoples across world. While disaster management strategies are helping people to cope with the devastating impact of climate change, more urgent collective efforts are required to combat global warming as it directly and/or indirectly impinges on the global healthcare scenario.

According to Gütschow et al’s ‘The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series’ (2016), “Globally, production and consumption of fossil fuels is responsible for about two thirds of current emissions [...]. An increase from about 50% in 1950 and a negligible contribution in 1850” (587). The exploitation of non-renewable energy sources has led to global warming, resulting in widespread devastating events such as flash floods, droughts, wildfires, heatwaves, and blizzards, causing unforeseen evacuations, financial and property losses, forced migrations, and urgent food and water crises. These recurring challenges leave local indigenous and marginalized communities with no alternative but to endure forced migration and resilience.

The goal of this edited book is to amplify international voices from various disciplines like Literature, Philosophy, Environmental Humanities, Medical Humanities, Theatre and Performance Studies, and Gender Studies, that explore the profound and multifaceted impact of the climate change on people’s health. We are especially interested in the contributions that reflect the health challenges faced by indigenous communities and marginalised populations. We are keen on receiving contributions from the academic scholars, writers, theatre practitioners, performers, photographers, and artists for the edited book that bespeak the narratives of clinical suffering and resilience coerced by climate change.

The format of this edited book moves beyond traditional academic framework by incorporating snapshots, field notes, original creative works such as monologues and visual art, brief commentary, etc. alongside scholarly essays. This innovative structure invites global narratives that divulge, critically and creatively, exigent health-related predicaments owing to climate change that compel populations around the world to be resilient and live with it. This project raises a clarion call for the extensive collective efforts to address climate change induced global health issues in a sustainable way without violating human rights of the indigenous and tribal communities.

We are inviting abstracts of 300 words on the following themes (but not limited to these):

1) Metaphors of health, resilience, and climate change used in the 21st century literary works, oral narratives, films, case studies, songs, etc.

2)  Climate change, health, and contemporary theatre

3)  Photographs of forced migration circulated on the social media

4)  Reports of forced resilience covered by climate journalism

5)  Contemporary artworks on environment, health, and migration

6)  Literary works on climate change and confinement

7)  Case studies on gender, health, and climate change

8) Portrayal of forced resilience and climate change in the contemporary autopathographies, memoirs of healthcare workers, etc.

Please send a 100-word bio-note along with a 300-word abstract before 1st May 2025 on the following email: climatehealthresilience@gmail.com
Currently, we are in conversation with the editors of the Michigan State University Press for the potential publication as a part of their “Environment, Health, and Well-being” book series.

Guest editors: Dr. Swati Joshi and Dr. Vinia Dakari

Works Cited

“File:Net Migration Rate, Population Reference Bureau, Current.Svg.” Wikimedia Commonscommons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Net_Migration_Rate,_Population_Reference_Bureau,_Current.sv g. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.

“Glossary on Migration.” International Organization for Migration , International Organization for Migration , 2019, environmentalmigration.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1411/files/iml_34_glossary.pdf.

Gütschow, Johannes. “The primap-hist National Historical Emissions Time Series (1850-2014).” Earth System Science Data Discussions, 2 June 2016, pp. 1–44, https://doi.org/10.5880/pik.2016.003.