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Rethinking the Vulnerability of Small Island States: Climate Change and Development in the Pacific Islands

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The Palgrave Handbook of International Development

Abstract

Small island developing states (SIDS) are often described as ‘vulnerable’ to large-scale economic and environmental forces, explained as a function of their geography and size which is said to make them highly exposed and sensitive to these exogenous stressors, and with little capacity to respond. However, this application of standard development theory to small island states has limited explanatory power. We provide a more nuanced understanding of this issue of island vulnerability through a focus on the risks posed by climate change. We show the way island-centred theories of development give rise to alternative knowledge about vulnerability to climate change, and by extension to other exogenous stressors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, University of Melbourne, ■, UK

    Jon Barnett & Elissa Waters

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  1. Jon Barnett
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  2. Elissa Waters
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Politics, University of York, Heslington, United Kingdom

    Jean Grugel

  2. Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Daniel Hammett

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Barnett, J., Waters, E. (2016). Rethinking the Vulnerability of Small Island States: Climate Change and Development in the Pacific Islands. In: Grugel, J., Hammett, D. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of International Development. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-42724-3_40

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