Getting into Deep Water. A Case Study of the Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana

• In Event: Green Criminology 1

Abstract

This paper focuses on Isle de Jean Charles, an island off the coast of Louisiana, which is steadily disappearing into the sea. The Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, a Native American community living on the island and dependent on it for fishing and crabbing, is the first community in the US who will relocate entirely due to sea-level rise and coastal land loss. Taking a critical eye to press accounts that focus on climate change as the primary cause, we illustrate the nuanced ecological, social, political, and economic drivers of the harm faced by the community. Our analysis pays attention to state, corporate and green crime elements that shaped this case, building on theories on crimes of the powerful. Our case study is based on interviews with key informants, a field visit and a study of archival data. Our preliminary analysis suggests that the role of oil and gas extraction in the region has been under-interrogated in the press as a driver in making the island susceptible to global sea level rise. Oil and gas extraction was a major source of economic development and attachment to those interests may have occluded state and corporate responsibility for the extent and speed of sea level rise.

Authors

• Lieselot Bisschop, Ghent University / Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Staci Strobl, University of Wisconsin - Platteville

• Julie Viollaz, INTERPOL