Beyond the binary of trapped populations and voluntary immobility: A people-centered perspective on environmental change and human immobility at Lake Urmia, Iran

Empirical research on the links between environmental change and human (im)mobility has made considerable progress in the last decade. However, most attention is given to migration rather than understanding immobility, where human-centered perspectives are scarce and various regions remain critically understudied. This paper seeks to address these deficits. Methodologically based on 75 qualitative in-depth interviews and 8 focus group sessions with rural residents around desiccating Lake Urmia (Iran), the study takes individual perceptions of environmental degradation and lived experiences of immobility as its fundamental starting point. It investigates what (in)tangible losses occur and analyses what matters most in shaping the aspirations and capabilities to migrate or stay. The findings provide unique empirical evidence of the multifaceted dimensions along the spectrum of immobility, moving beyond the prevailing binary views of voluntary immobility and trapped populations. A key finding of this study is the elucidation of ‘ambivalent immobility’, comprising individuals whose (im)mobility aspirations are complex and contradictory: they want to stay, but also leave, constantly weighing their growing local dissatisfaction against their attachments to place and the psychological/economic costs of migration. Another novel contribution concerns ‘precarious immobility’, expanding our knowledge of how individuals understand themselves as trapped. Grounded in capability constraints and emotional distress exacerbated by environmental change, individuals from this group did not voice any (im)mobility aspirations. This distinguished them from the involuntary or acquiescent immobile residents in the study, who despite capability constraints either aspired to migrate or expressed a preference to stay. Thus, this paper highlights the complexity of aspirations in contexts of environmental degradation and underscores the need for more qualitative research to complement quantitative efforts to foster a more nuanced understanding of the diverse causes, dimensions, and consequences of immobility.