Climate Change, Migration, and the Persistence of an “Invasion” Narrative

In spite of the consensus that has been achieved by scholars of migration and climate change—that climate-induced migration, while real, is complicated by other factors—a narrative of “invasion” persists on the part of both the general public and academics from other fields. This paper interrogates this “invasion” narrative in terms of both its cultural roots and its relevance to Christian thought. The paper unfolds in three steps. First, it sketches the history of the research on climate change and migration in order to contextualize the “invasion” narrative. Second, it argues that this narrative stems from an abstracted an oppositional imaginary for human/nonhuman relations. Third, it identifies a Christian dimension to this imaginary, both as a source of the problem and as an element in a creative response. In other words, Christian thought is both a resistance to the narrative of invasion and an expression of it.