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The taboo of retreat: The politics of sea level rise, managed retreat, and coastal property values in California

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  • Ryan B. Anderson

Abstract

This article uses anthropological and historical perspectives to explore ongoing conflicts over “managed retreat” and property values along the California coast. Proponents of managed retreat argue that coastal communities need to start planning for the impending effects of sea level rise, including retreating or relocating away from vulnerable coastal spaces. Some residents and organizations oppose such measures, often citing the need to protect coastal home and real estate values. One of the key arguments of some residents is that such coastal properties should be protected because they are so valuable. Drawing from sociological and anthropological theories of value, in addition to ethnographic research in California, this article explores how this situation in California came to be, what it can tell us about the politics of value and financialization, and finally, what it portends for the future as our highly financialized world faces the looming threat of climate change.

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  • Ryan B. Anderson, 2022. "The taboo of retreat: The politics of sea level rise, managed retreat, and coastal property values in California," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 284-296, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecanth:v:9:y:2022:i:2:p:284-296
    DOI: 10.1002/sea2.12247
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    1. Steven A. McAlpine & Jeremy R. Porter, 2018. "Estimating Recent Local Impacts of Sea-Level Rise on Current Real-Estate Losses: A Housing Market Case Study in Miami-Dade, Florida," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(6), pages 871-895, December.
    2. Justin Murfin & Matthew Spiegel & Jose Scheinkman, 2020. "Is the Risk of Sea Level Rise Capitalized in Residential Real Estate?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1217-1255.
    3. Horacio Ortiz, 2013. "Financial value: economic, moral, political, global," Post-Print hal-00869852, HAL.
    4. Ryan Anderson, 2017. "Roads, value, and dispossession in Baja California Sur, Mexico," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(1), pages 7-21, January.
    5. Bernstein, Asaf & Gustafson, Matthew T. & Lewis, Ryan, 2019. "Disaster on the horizon: The price effect of sea level rise," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 253-272.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Rissing & Bradley M. Jones, 2022. "Landscapes of value," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 193-206, June.

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