ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book investigates the lived experience of rapid environmental change engineered through a specific socio-historical and political foundation. It examines the effects of the climate change–disaster– energy nexus on the Isle de Jean Charles, Grand Caillou/Dulac, and Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribes. The book demonstrates that climate change and ecological shifts cannot be understood only as physical processes, but must be considered within specific socio-historical and political contexts that have marginalized select communities. It illustrates how the contemporary capitalist-driven political-economic structure that emerged from the colonial settler process has manufactured the vulnerability of coastal Louisiana's communities and transformed the region. The book focuses on three tribal communities in Louisiana, this does not preclude the fact that many diverse communities around the world are being affected by the impacts of climate change, habitual disasters, and the extraction and production of fossil fuels.
