Climate change and worries over land: Articulations in the atoll state of Kiribati

Abstract

Globally circulating reports on how anthropogenic climate change is likely to affect Oceania often refer to rising sea levels, with consequences especially for low-lying atolls. In this connection, this chapter addresses the discourse on worry as a specific manifestation of emotions developed by the people of the Pacific atoll state of Kiribati. These worries relate to land, but also to the nation, since land and people are inseparably linked in the Kiribati ontology. It is argued that the worries of the citizens of Kiribati indicate a will for social resilience in the face of climate change. As embodied articulations, worries can be seen as effective, and so as constituting an actant in a network of relationships involving human beings and their environment.