Gendered dimensions of migration in relation to climate change

Abstract

It is widely accepted that climate change may be contributing to population movement and has gendered effects. The relationship between climate change as a direct cause of migration continues to give rise to debates concerning vulnerabilities, while at the same time gendered dimensions of vulnerabilities remain limited to binary approaches. There is limited cross-fertilization between disciplines that go beyond comparison between males and females but interrogate gender in association with climate change and migration. Here, we seek to develop an analytical lens to the nexus between gender, migration and climate change in producing, reproducing and sustaining at risk conditions and vulnerabilities. When gender and mobility are conceptualized as a process, and climate change as a risk modifier, the nexus between them can be better interrogated. Starting by using gender as an organizing principle that structures and stratifies relations entails viewing gender not as a category that distinguishes males and females but as a discursive process of social construction that (re)produces subjectivities and inequalities. Gender is a dynamic process that shapes and (re)produces vulnerabilities and consequently shapes mediation of climate impacts and migration and is also shaped by symbolic processes that go beyond households and communities.

Tracking local and regional climate im/mobilities through a multidimensional lens

“…That is what her life has become, miserable. (Ayeb-Karlsson 2021, p. 353) Gender, albeit described as the "core of mobility studies" (Lama et al 2021), never exists in isolation. Like all other dimensions of inequality, it is tied to the inner works of power (authority, subjectivities, and knowledge), also apparent in scholarship on the politics of adaptation (e.g., Eriksen et al 2015) and climate resilience and migration (e.g., Baldwin 2017).…”

A Systematic Literature Review of Water-Migration-Gender Nexus Toward Integrated Governance Strategies for (Non) Migrants

“…In this sense, gender is a critical factor since the perception and response of women and men toward climate change are different, implying that adaptation is gendered (Ylipaa et al, 2019). Gender is shaped by political, economic, cultural, and symbolic processes, and any discursive dimension about climate change practice and policy will have gendered implications (Lama et al, 2021). Climate change exacerbates water availability, access, scarcity, and security globally, with significant gender inequality consequences within and outside the home (Enarson and Fordham, 2001;Cannon, 2002).…”

Linking climate change, environmental degradation, and migration: An update after 10 years

“…A study in Latin America (Baez et al, 2017) shows that individuals in the youngest age category are most likely to migrate in response to either droughts or hurricanes whereas (Drabo & Mbaye, 2015) points toward possible brain drain consequences of natural disasters for the Global South. Gender is among the most important dimensions that shape vulnerabilities and mobilities (Lama et al, 2021). As shown recently in Bangladesh, gender norms might, for example, create additional social costs for women who migrate although female mobilities are imperative to sustain livelihoods within communities (Evertsen & van der Geest, 2020).…”