Climate Change Induced Migration in Louisiana

Keywords: Climate Change, Migration
Session Type: Virtual Guided Poster Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 33

Abstract

I want to study climate change-induced migration in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. My research question is “have the effects of climate change, in Lafourche Parish, influenced people’s decisions to migrate to another area?”. I will also try to answer the question, “What are the biggest intersections that influence an individual to migrate because of factors of climate change”? I will be using an intersectional lens throughout my study. Specifically, I will analyze the intersections of, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, education, and social class. I will be pulling from Crenshaw’s definition of intersectionality, while also having a goal to acknowledge my own privileges. I chose Lafourche Parish due to the natural disaster, Hurricane Ida, and the surrounding areas that have people placed in temporary. After many people relocated to places outside of Lafourche Parish, including Houston Texas, after Hurricane Katrina I want to know if people are following similar patterns in migration.
I will be using an ethnographic lens in order to answer my thesis question. Therefore, I will be conducting interviews and observing the lived experiences of those in Lafourche Parish. I am predicting that social class, which I will find by finding patterns of various economic indicators, will be one of the biggest indicators of whether climate change will influence an individual to migrate.