What is it about?
Jeff Murray’s 2019 novel entitled Melt crucially bridges fiction and public policy, in a move to put the Pacific, New Zealand and Antarctica at the forefront of climate change debates. As the near future sees Antarctica melting, the novel particularly focuses on the sociopolitical and power challenge that access to Antarctica and refuge for millions of climate change refugees will represent to wealthy and relatively spared nations, such as New Zealand.
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Why is it important?
This article takes the form of an interdisciplinary discussion between Murray, a first-time novelist with a professional background in strategy policy, and literary and cultural studies scholar Jessica Maufort. The article explores the role of fiction relative to expert-led policy as influencers of change in the context of access to a melting Antarctica and refuge for climate dispossessed. It draws out the need to prepare now for fundamental changes derivative of climate change, both as risk management and because the necessary changes take decades to implement.
Perspectives
Antarctica is twice the size of Australia. It is resource rich. It is melting and becoming exploitable. Wealthy and powerful nations are aware of the opportunity. The public narrative is naive and has not kept pace. Public refugee policy in wealthy nations is underpinned by the idea of social and economic progress. Liberla 'good'people in wealth nations can reject refugees because we believe the arc of history is toward progress. Climate change breaks that narrative. Liberal, wealthy people will need to respond by either chosing to take on board millions of dispossesed people or set aside our liberal self-representation and abandon those dispossesed by climate change. The people most impacted have caused little of the problem.
Jeff Murray
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A novel to influence public policy? The role of New Zealand in climate migration and the occupation of Antarctica, Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies, June 2021, Intellect,
DOI: 10.1386/nzps_00048_1.
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