International biopolitics and “climate refugees” as bare life. A Critical Discourse Analysis of how the UN’s framing of “climate refugees” impacts climate related global humanitarian migration and refugee governance

Abstract: This thesis investigates how the United Nations’ (UN) framing of “climate refugees” impacts global humanitarian migration and refugee governance in the context of anthropogenic climate change in which border zones become spaces of biopolitical decision making which impacts both governance strategies and International Relations as an academic field. It argues from a poststructuralist perspective that the UN’s discourse centred around climate change related human movement, the issue of “climate refugees” is downplayed, and “climate refugees” become bare life while their claims to legal protection are delegitimised. Thus, despite the concept of “climate refugees” becoming increasingly important in the Anthropocene, the UN’s discourse has remained vastly unchanged since McNamara’s analysis of it in 2007. The UN’s governance related discourse and reasoning concerning “climate refugees” and (humanitarian) global governance is explored through a Critical Discourse Analysis that examines a set of official UN documents which are relevant to the issue of forced human movement in the context of anthropogenic climate change.