Environmental migration and non-migration: Learning through an intergenerational lens

Abstract

Although migration–environment scholarship has experienced tremendous advancement in the past two decades, it continues to lack a historical perspective. This article proposes an integration of historical context into a conceptual framework to examine contemporary migration and non-migration decision-making as related to aspects of environmental context and change. We mainly engage the potential for intergenerational aspirations and capabilities enhancement as lessons are passed on to subsequent generations to improve coping strategies in the face of environmental stress. We apply a historical lens to a case study in coastal Bangladesh to illustrate this perspective’s potential. Ultimately, we urge interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars of contemporary migration–environment associations and environmental historians, as the resulting historically informed research would have important implications for research, theory, and policy.