Freedom of choice to migrate: adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh

Abstract

Adaptation is an essential part of climate change policy. In areas where impacts are likely to be severe, migration is considered to be an adaptation option. In Bangladesh coastal areas migration due to climate change is contingent on people's freedom of choice at individual and household level. Following Amartya Sen's capability approach, we argue that there should be a line drawn between migrations by free choice versus forced migration. Sen's capability approach focuses on the importance of people's freedom of choice to act, and the ability to achieve what they consider valuable in their life. In this paper, we use an extensive empirical work engaging 22 focus groups discussions (8-12 individuals in each group) and 14 Key Informants Interviews in SouthWest Bangladesh to elicit how freedom of choice changes with the economic class and social status of an individual. Using these data we apply Sen's capability approach to understand the role of the freedom of choice when considering migration as an adaptation option. We argue that the capability approach is essential in revealing a thin border between migration as a (planned) adaptation option and forced migration.

Sustainable coastal social-ecological systems: how do we define “coastal”?

“…Renaud et al 2011). However, Assaduzzaman et al (2020) find that social status and economic class imprints an individual's perception that they may freely choose to migrate. Applying Sen's capability framework to examine empirical results on push-pull factors behind the decision to migrate in coastal Bangladesh, they add compelling dimension to the emerging environmental migration literature by focusing on the role of freedom of choice in the decision to migrate.…”

Migration as an Adaptation Strategy: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…In this study, for keywords analysis, the minimum threshold level of occurrences of keywords is determined 5. From a total of 21,707 keywords, Figure 3 Many researchers identified migration as one of the adaptation strategies usually chosen by the households (Japanwala, 2021;Ahmed & Eklund, 2021;Assaduzzaman et al, 2020;Wiig et al, 2020). Specifically, in vulnerable coastal communities, people often choose migration as a livelihood adaptation strategy because they lack freedom of choice (Assaduzzaman et al, 2020).…”

“…The mainstream argument on migration as an adaptation strategy is supported by numerous scholars (Bettini, 2014;Assaduzzaman et al, 2020;Grecequet et al, 2017;Baldwin & Fornalé, 2017;Choumert et al, 2015;Nishimura, 2015;Mallick and Siddiqui, 2015), which is contested by other scholars (Adri & Simon, 2018;Falco et al, 2018). Like pulled migration, forced migration can also be viewed as an adaptation strategy, although the old school of thought viewed forced migration from the security lexicon.…”

“…Many studies argue on the debate of 'migration' as an adaptation strategy. Some researchers argue that migration is a livelihood diversification strategy mainly used for adaptation purposes (Bettini, 2014;Assaduzzaman et al, 2020;Grecequet et al, 2017;Baldwin & Fornalé, 2017;Choumert et al, 2015). Another school of thought disagrees with the said argument and claims that migration is not the 'only' adaptation strategy; instead, people choose this strategy as an alternative option, which is chosen as the last resort (Perumal, 2018;Upreti & Shrestha, 2017;Adri & Simon, 2018;Stringer et ORIGINAL ARTICLE SCIENCE & ENGINEERING al., 2015).…”

“…Researchers assert that migration can enhance capabilities. Still, the poorer communities and those who live in the highly disaster-prone coastal areas have less freedom of choice, and in most cases, they become forced migrants (Assaduzzaman et al, 2020). Researchers are currently emphasizing local adaptation strategies like changing seed varieties, fertilizer use, crop variety, and adjustment vertically instead of migration (Begum & Mahanta, 2017).…”