Theorizing climate change, (im)mobility and socio-ecological systems resilience in low-elevation coastal zones

Abstract

This paper draws on recent theory and empirical research to explore how mobility is and might be employed by populations vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It examines case studies in Bangladesh and Kiribati to illustrate the implications of differential processes of change, types of mobility, challenges and responses in low-elevation coastal zones. Throughout, a household-level analysis yields a complex picture of how (im)mobility interacts with vulnerability to environmental change. A resilience approach is subsequently adopted to argue that an understanding of socio-ecological systems offers a useful means of apprehending and exploring the complexity inherent in the climate change–mobility nexus.

Keywords:

• South Asia
• small islands
• livelihoods
• adaptation
• climate change