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Given the degraded profile of the refugee in contemporary discourse, it is tempting to seek alternatives from a rich tradition of literary tropes of exile. However, this article argues that the romanticized figure of the literary exile ends up denying, albeit in positive terms, a genuine refugee voice, as much as the current impersonal hegemonic concept of the refugee as found in law. Ultimately, the spell in which refugees find themselves trapped today can be broken only by opening up a space of politics in which the refugee herself can be heard. ; Étant donné le profil dégradé des réfugiés(e)s qui existe au sein du discours contemporain, la tentation de trouver d'autres possibilités d'approche à partir d'une riche tradition de figures littéraires de l'exil s'impose. Cet article maintient, cependant, que la figure romantique littéraire de l'exil aboutit, bien qu'en termes positifs, à un reniement de la voix authentique des réfugié(e)s, au même titre que la conception hégémonique et impersonnelle des réfugié(e) s que l'on trouve actuellement dans la législation. En fin de compte, le sort qui tient les réfugié(e)s prisonniers ne peut être brisé que par la création d'un espace dans la dimension politique qui puisse donner voix aux réfugié(e) s eux-mêmes.

Anne McNevin's book provides a valuable contribution to ongoing debates about the plight of irregular migrants in the context of neoliberal hegemony. It combines detailed analysis of contemporary movements that resist the ever-increasing controls over borders and movement, together with critical assessments of a range of contemporary theorists on the question. McNevin's central argument is that neoliberalism not only delineates the migrant subject in various ways, but also traps activists into replicating many harmful assumptions about 'deserving' versus 'undeserving' migrants. She further argues for a resurrection of the political subjectivity of migrant communities, by both exploiting the crisis engendered at the nexus of neoliberal economics and the sovereign subject, and resisting the framework set by those paradigms.

The last few years have witnessed a flurry of activity in global governance and international lawseeking to address the protection gaps for people fleeing the effects of climate change. This book discusses cutting-edge developments in law and policy on climate change and forced displacement, including theories and potential solutions, issues of governance, local and regional concerns, and future challenges. Chapters are written by a range of authors from academics to key figures in intergovernmental organisations, and offer detailed case studies of policy developments in the Americas, Europe, South-East Asia, and the Pacific. This is an ideal resource for graduate students and researchers from a range of disciplines, as well as policymakers working in environmental law, environmental governance, and refugee and migration law. This is one of a series of publications associated with the Earth System Governance Project. For more publications, see www.cambridge.org/earth-system-governance.

Overcoming the legal impasse? Setting the scene / Simon Behrman and Avidan Kent -- 'Climate refugees': a legal mapping exercise / Jolanda van der Vliet -- A new category of refugees? 'Climate refugees' and a gaping hole in international law / Sumudu Anopama Atapattu -- Norm formalization in international policy cooperation: a framework for analysis / Elin Jakobsson -- Justice and climate migration: the importance of nomenclature in the discourse on twenty-first-century mobility / Maxine Burkett -- Who are climate refugees? Academic engagement in the post-truth era / Benoit Mayer -- Advancing the global governance of climate migration through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Global Compact on Migration: perspectives from the International Organization for Migration / Mariam Traore Chazalnoel and Dina Ionesco -- Enhancing legal protection for people displaced in the context of disasters and climate change: challenges and opportunities / Madeline Garlick, Marine Franck and Erica Bower -- State-led, regional, consultative processes: opportunities to develop legal frameworks on disaster displacement / Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) -- Drawing upon international refugee law: the precautionary approach to protecting climate change-displaced persons / Jenny Poon -- Public international law's applicability to migration as adaptation: fit for purpose? / Thekli Anastasiou -- Climate migrants' right to enjoy their culture / Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh -- Beyond the shortcomings of international law: a proposal for the legal protection of climate migrants / Beatriz Felipe Pérez -- Towards an international legal status of environmentally displaced persons / Michel Prieur -- Cross-border displacement due to environmental disaster: a proposal for UN Guiding Principles to fill the legal protection gap / Camilla Schloss -- Global governance to protect future climate refugees / Frank Biermann.

In contrast to the claim that refugee law has been a key in guaranteeing a space of protection for refugees, this book argues that law has been instrumental in eliminating spaces of protection, not just from one's persecutors but also from the grasp of sovereign power. By uncovering certain fundamental aspects of asylum as practised in the past and in present day social movements, namely its concern with defining space rather than people and its role as a space of resistance or otherness to sovereign law, this book demonstrates that asylum has historically been antagonistic to law and vice versa. In contrast, twentieth-century refugee law was constructed precisely to ensure the effective management and control over the movements of forced migrants. To illustrate the complex ways in which these two paradigms – asylum and refugee law – interact with one another, this book examines their historical development and concludes with in-depth studies of the Sanctuary Movement in the United States and the Sans-Papiers of France.The book will appeal to researchers and students of refugee law and refugee studies; legal and political philosophy; ancient, medieval and modern legal history; and sociology of political movements.

One of the most significant impacts of climate change is migration. Yet, to date, climate-induced migrants are falling within what has been defined by some as a 'protection gap'. This book addresses this issue, first by identifying precisely where the gap exists, by reviewing the relevant legal tools that are available for those who are currently, and who will in the future be displaced because of climate change. The authors then address the relevant actors; the identity of those deserving protection (displaced individuals), as well as other bearers of rights (migration-hosting states) and obligations (polluting states) The authors also address head-on the contentious topic of definitions, concluding with the provocative assertion that the term 'climate refugees' is indeed correct and should be relied upon. The second part of the book looks to the future by advocating specific legal and institutional pathways. Notably, the authors support the use of international environmental law as the most adequate and suitable regime for the regulation of climate refugees. With respect to the role of institutions, the authors propose a model of 'cross-governance', through which a more inclusive and multi-faceted protection regime could be achieved. Addressing the regulation of climate refugees through a unique collaboration between a refugee lawyer and an environmental lawyer, this book will be of great interest to scholars and professionals in fields including international law, environmental studies, refugee studies and international relations.

Cover -- Half title -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Table of contents -- Acknowledgements -- List of acronyms -- Introduction -- I. A problem that cannot be ignored -- II. The potential for solutions -- 1 Defining the 'legal hole' -- I. Introduction -- II. Mapping the legal framework -- III. Analysing the legal framework -- IV. The way forward -- V. Obstacles on the way to effective regulation -- VI. Conclusion -- 2 Why 'climate refugees'? -- I. Introduction -- II. The refugee definition: an evolving concept -- III. Addressing the 'why not' arguments -- IV. How to identify the relationship between climate change and forced migration? -- V. Will states accept a new category of climate refugee? -- VI. Conclusion -- 3 Climate-induced migration and international environmental law -- I. Introduction -- II. Why environmental law? Three key factors/elements -- III. Approaching climatr-induced migration: beyond the environmental regime -- IV. Conclusion -- 4 Filling the institutional gap -- I. Introduction -- II. The lead agencies: UNHCR and IOM -- III. Remedying the institutional gap -- IV. Conclusion -- Conclusion: cautious optimism? -- I. Final observations -- II. Future research agenda -- Selected bibliography -- Index