Abstract
persons fleeing adversity. As a result, the staying behaviours of communities, particularly those who
choose immobility in areas affected by violent conflict and other adversities, are often overlooked. In
addition, existing theoretical frameworks fail to capture the distinctive migratory processes and experiences
of communities committed to remaining on their ancestral lands. This article introduces the resilience–
accessibility framework, a novel analytical framework developed by integrating theoretical
insights from the aspirations–capabilities framework with qualitative data from focus group discussions
involving 106 respondents in conflict-affected communities in the Middle Belt region in Nigeria.
While the framework primarily addresses immobility in conflict-affected areas, it also applies to collectives,
such as Indigenous communities, facing challenges like climatic stress, natural disasters, environmental
degradation, and governance instability. By broadening the scope of (im)mobility categories,
this article offers a framework that foregrounds often-excluded experiences of immobility. It provides
analytical tools to examine how resilience, resource accessibility, and structural conditions shape collective
decisions to stay put, particularly in communities in the Global South. In doing so, it addresses
a persistent research opportunity in migration studies, where immobility remains under-theorized, especially
in conditions of adversity.
choose immobility in areas affected by violent conflict and other adversities, are often overlooked. In
addition, existing theoretical frameworks fail to capture the distinctive migratory processes and experiences
of communities committed to remaining on their ancestral lands. This article introduces the resilience–
accessibility framework, a novel analytical framework developed by integrating theoretical
insights from the aspirations–capabilities framework with qualitative data from focus group discussions
involving 106 respondents in conflict-affected communities in the Middle Belt region in Nigeria.
While the framework primarily addresses immobility in conflict-affected areas, it also applies to collectives,
such as Indigenous communities, facing challenges like climatic stress, natural disasters, environmental
degradation, and governance instability. By broadening the scope of (im)mobility categories,
this article offers a framework that foregrounds often-excluded experiences of immobility. It provides
analytical tools to examine how resilience, resource accessibility, and structural conditions shape collective
decisions to stay put, particularly in communities in the Global South. In doing so, it addresses
a persistent research opportunity in migration studies, where immobility remains under-theorized, especially
in conditions of adversity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | mnaf023 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-28 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | Migration Studies |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 14 Jun 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2025 |
Bibliographical note
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service
Data Access Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available due to privacy concerns but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Keywords
- (im)mobility
- resilience-accessibility framework
- conflict
- adversity
- migration