Paper short abstract:

I examine local reactions to climate change in the Marshall Islands, including disavowal (emerging as silence or faith in God’s promise) and pessimism (ecological doomsaying or prediction of a second Flood). Both strategies support inaction and stem from a historically inspired sense of victimization by, and reliance on, powerful outsiders.

Paper long abstract:

Climate change challenges the habitability and very existence of the low-lying nation of the Marshall Islands, a threat which has been communicated to Marshallese people secondhand via the radio and firsthand via coastal erosion. Nonetheless, local efforts to confront and broadcast this plight have been sluggish. To understand this inaction and suggest how to combat it, I examine Marshallese perceptions of global warming. The country's history of colonial domination, nuclear testing, and foreign aid has fostered a mentality of victimization by, and dependency on, foreign powers. This leads to a widespread belief in cultural and moral decline at the hands of Western money, individualism, and radiation. Against this backdrop, Marshallese people favor two reactions to climate change. The first is disavowal, manifesting either as silence or as Christian faith that the Flood will never be repeated, and bolstered by a nuclear-inspired distrust of scientists. The second strategy is pessimism, manifesting as environmental doomsaying or prediction of a second Biblical Flood. In the first approach, distrust of outside influence extends to Western climatologists; in the second, the master narrative of societal decay at the hands of outside forces provides a ready template for understanding global warming. Both strategies presuppose inaction and stem from a historically inspired sense of disempowered dependency. Encouraging adaptation therefore requires challenging this feeling of helplessness - but this will be as difficult as it is important, because climate change, a malevolent force inflicted by indifferent foreigners, will bolster the same sense of powerlessness that must be overcome.