Toward an Ecological-Political Understanding of Migration from Tunisia: Exploring the Role of Energy Policies in Southern Ecosystems' Desertification

Abstract This article examines the phenomenon of people in movement by considering the human and environmental impact of export-oriented energy policies through the case study of Southern Tunisia’s territory and communities. The analysis aims to interrogate the neglected link between the social-econ...

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Main Author: Arianna Poletti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centro Scalabriniano de Estudos Migratórios 2024-11-01
Series:REMHU: Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-85852024000100409&lng=en&tlng=en
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author Arianna Poletti
author_facet Arianna Poletti
author_sort Arianna Poletti
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This article examines the phenomenon of people in movement by considering the human and environmental impact of export-oriented energy policies through the case study of Southern Tunisia’s territory and communities. The analysis aims to interrogate the neglected link between the social-economic context of territories hosting impactful energy infrastructures, the resulting control over ‘human’ and ‘natural’ ecosystems that inhabit these territories, and their consequent abandonment, leading to migration. The research sheds light on how coercive measures and oppressive policies prioritize maximal resource extraction, depriving local citizens of their agency. Consequently, communities no longer resist the establishment of energy infrastructure, leading to the abandonment of their land and the loss of control over natural resources. By adopting a political ecology approach, this article aims to expand the category of climate migrants arguing that the economic criterion cannot be omitted nor separated from the climatic one. The case study of Southern Tunisia exemplifies the dynamics of precarity and structural poverty underlying migration peculiar to territories where, paradoxically, high value-added resources such as oil and gas as well as renewable energy are extracted and exported.
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publisher Centro Scalabriniano de Estudos Migratórios
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series REMHU: Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana
spelling doaj-art-0af659db4e2c43b9aec3732466fe36c32024-11-12T07:50:26ZengCentro Scalabriniano de Estudos MigratóriosREMHU: Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana2237-98432024-11-013210.1590/1980-858525038800032209Toward an Ecological-Political Understanding of Migration from Tunisia: Exploring the Role of Energy Policies in Southern Ecosystems' DesertificationArianna Polettihttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-4287-6591Abstract This article examines the phenomenon of people in movement by considering the human and environmental impact of export-oriented energy policies through the case study of Southern Tunisia’s territory and communities. The analysis aims to interrogate the neglected link between the social-economic context of territories hosting impactful energy infrastructures, the resulting control over ‘human’ and ‘natural’ ecosystems that inhabit these territories, and their consequent abandonment, leading to migration. The research sheds light on how coercive measures and oppressive policies prioritize maximal resource extraction, depriving local citizens of their agency. Consequently, communities no longer resist the establishment of energy infrastructure, leading to the abandonment of their land and the loss of control over natural resources. By adopting a political ecology approach, this article aims to expand the category of climate migrants arguing that the economic criterion cannot be omitted nor separated from the climatic one. The case study of Southern Tunisia exemplifies the dynamics of precarity and structural poverty underlying migration peculiar to territories where, paradoxically, high value-added resources such as oil and gas as well as renewable energy are extracted and exported.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-85852024000100409&lng=en&tlng=enclimate migrantTunisiaMediterraneanenergyrenewable
spellingShingle Arianna Poletti
Toward an Ecological-Political Understanding of Migration from Tunisia: Exploring the Role of Energy Policies in Southern Ecosystems' Desertification
REMHU: Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana
climate migrant
Tunisia
Mediterranean
energy
renewable
title Toward an Ecological-Political Understanding of Migration from Tunisia: Exploring the Role of Energy Policies in Southern Ecosystems' Desertification
title_full Toward an Ecological-Political Understanding of Migration from Tunisia: Exploring the Role of Energy Policies in Southern Ecosystems' Desertification
title_fullStr Toward an Ecological-Political Understanding of Migration from Tunisia: Exploring the Role of Energy Policies in Southern Ecosystems' Desertification
title_full_unstemmed Toward an Ecological-Political Understanding of Migration from Tunisia: Exploring the Role of Energy Policies in Southern Ecosystems' Desertification
title_short Toward an Ecological-Political Understanding of Migration from Tunisia: Exploring the Role of Energy Policies in Southern Ecosystems' Desertification
title_sort toward an ecological political understanding of migration from tunisia exploring the role of energy policies in southern ecosystems desertification
topic climate migrant
Tunisia
Mediterranean
energy
renewable
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-85852024000100409&lng=en&tlng=en
work_keys_str_mv AT ariannapoletti towardanecologicalpoliticalunderstandingofmigrationfromtunisiaexploringtheroleofenergypoliciesinsouthernecosystemsdesertification