マーシャル諸島共和国の環境問題とグローバル・テクノスケープの視座

水半球の小さな大地マーシャル諸島共和国は、幾重にも覆いかぶさる環境問題に悩み続けてきた。核実験の後遺症は現在も続く。伝統的自給自足の離島の生活から本島マジュロヘの移住と都市化による急激な文化変容は、様々なひずみを生み出した。不登校の子ども達は30%、失業率も同じく30%を超えた。マーシャルの経済は、太平洋島嶼諸国の典型的なMIRAB型経済(MI : 移民・出稼ぎ、R : 送金・仕送り、A : 援助、B : 官僚リーダーシップ)である。消費水準は、国内の生産能力をはるかに超え、海外からの援助に頼り続けてきた。車社会と輸入食品は、栄養不良の子どもと糖尿病の大人を急増させた。廃車と輸入品のパッケージは大量廃棄物となって、狭小な国土に溢れている。さらに海岸の浸蝕は激しく、地球の温暖化による水没の危機が叫ばれて久しい。本稿は、自動車の脱地域化と、道路・ドライブが伝統文化と重なり合う接点領域に照射し、島の環境負荷を考察する。さらに島の再生に挑戦する人々の努力と極小環礁国で人間の叡智がどのように結集しているかをグローバル・テクノスケープの視点から論じたものである。

The Republic of the Marshall Islands, an expansive group of islands located in the Water planet, has been burdened with severalfold of environmental problems. The aftereffects from the nuclear-testing still continuously plague the country. The inevitable relocation from the remote islands, where people led traditional subsistence lifestyles, to the main island Majuro, forced its people to adapt to the rapid cultural changes due to urbanization, bringing about various social distortions. The school non-attendance rate has reached 30-0x1.41240bfb4122p-4nd the unemployment rate has gone beyond 30%.0 The Marshall Islands is supported by MIRAB economy [MI : MR : Remittance (to relatives), A : Aid (from colonial powers), B : Bureaucratic leadership], typical of the Pacific Island Nation region. The islands' consumption rate has gone way beyond its domestic productivity, obliging the country to rely on foreign assistance. A motorized society and imported food have led to a sharp rise in malnourishment in children and diabetes in adults. The products from such a society are impending in the form of mass waste overflowing the islands' minimal land space. Further, coastal erosion is seriously progressing and danger of submersion due to global warming effects has been a long called-for issue.

This account studies the environmental burdens troubling the island country by shedding light on issues of regional demotorization and on regions where road driving overlap with traditional culture. It also examines from Global-technoscape perspective, the people's efforts in challenging to revive their island and how the wisdom of people living in such a tiny Pacific atoll gather and work in a concerted endeavor.