Real Life Research Articles

CHILDHOOD FEARS AS CAUSES OF STEREOTYPICAL HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN ADULTHOOD. CONTINUATION PRACTICES

Relevance. New unpredictable challenges occur every day, generating fear of terrorist attacks, energy disasters. To quickly adapt to the new realities of life, it is necessary to become as whole, psychologically stable and flexible as possible. The confessional tools for this human psyche are required. One of them is meditation. Purpose of the report: to statistically substantiate the influence of the author's meditation program on overcoming stereotypical behavior of adults caused by their childhood fears and to demonstrate the development of their psychological flexibility. Methodology. Sampl: the experimental (EG) and control (CG) groups of 34 people (21-w,13-m), (age - 21-53), who had similar socio-demographic characteristics and psychological problems Methods: Five-factor Meindfulness Questionnaire FFMQ; Scales of anxiety and worries STAI; Ambiguity Tolerance Scale MSTAT-I; New Uncertainty Tolerance Questionnaire (NTN, Kornilova T.V. ); SPB Personal Beliefs Survey; PBQ-BPD Dysfunctional Beliefs Questionnaire; K. Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale; SCL-90-R Symptomatic Questionnaire; author's Child and Current Fear Scale for Adults. Results. The effectiveness of the author's program of mastering skills of decentered and impartial observation, conscious choice of cognitive and emotional reactions, abilities to "let go" and unresponsiveness has been proved. Such tools of conscious presence of program participants expanded their adaptive resources and improved psychological well-being. The regulatory effects related to the reduction of fears and anxiety occurred at the level of metacognitive functions of their consciousness.

Islamophobia as an affective field: death and elimination

ABSTRACT Twenty young adults attended an arts-based workshop in Toronto, Canada and responded to the question of ‘what does Islamophobia feel like?’ in order to document their lived reality of everyday Islamophobia. The article focuses on the overarching ‘story of feelings’ marking the art-pieces in an effort to understand how the art-makers use emotional fields to make Islamophobia legible from their lived standpoint. The Muslim protagonist is consistently illustrated by the artmakers as occupying an affective field marked by an everyday spatial politics of contact-and-recoil, i.e. an emotional field of disgust, while made to endure a continuous depletion-centred onslaught of violence. This article addresses a subset of the illustrations using image-based deep-story methods to argue that ‘disgust’ is the primary racialized emotional field through which young Muslims conceptualize the operational life of Islamophobia.

An integrative review of racism in nursing to inform anti-racist nursing praxis in Aotearoa New Zealand.

To synthesise international literature to identify mechanisms that maintain racism in nursing and understand the factors that contribute to designing and implementing anti-racist praxis to inform nursing in Aotearoa New Zealand. An integrative literature review was undertaken, integrating Indigenous Kaupapa Māori methodologies to ensure a cultural and philosophical lens. Peer-reviewed literature published, between January 2011 and July 2023 were sourced. Of 1296 articles, 16 met the inclusion criteria and 4 were identified via citation chaining. In total, 20 articles were included. The Johns Hopkins Research Evidence Tool was applied, findings extracted, and thematic analysis completed utilising Indigenous Kaupapa Māori principles. Databases, including CINAHL, Scopus, PubMed and Aus/NZ Reference Centre, were searched in July 2023. Two key themes were identified: (1) colonial active resistance to change; and (2) transformational, visionary, and proactive nursing. Nurses are well-positioned to confront the structures that maintain racism in health and education systems but are often actors in maintaining status quo. Anti-racist praxis can be a mechanism for nurses to reimagine, redefine and transform nursing care, leadership, and nursing education to begin to eradicate racism. This integrative review adhered to the 2020 Preferred Reporting for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. No patient or public contribution. Racism remains prevalent in nursing and the healthcare system. It is necessary to implement anti-racist praxis and policies that resist, deconstruct, and dismantle power and racism while validating Indigenous values, beliefs and practices. This is vital to deliver equitable health care. This integrative review presents lived realities and knowledge of Indigenous and racially minoritised nurses and scholars, alongside nursing allies to inform anti-racist praxis. This evidence signifies that it is time to walk the walk to challenge the colonising systems and processes that hold racism in place.

Overseas Trade and War. Reconstructing a Late Eighteenth-Century East India Company Voyage to Asia Between Routine and Unpredictability

Abstract The role played by the East India Company in European expansion in early modern Asia is of such importance that it has generated a large body of scholarly literature. However, the logbooks of the East Indiamen, compiled by their captains, are largely overlooked as a primary source for the history of navigation, despite the wealth of information such firsthand, “from below” documents could provide about those voyages. As part of the Global Sea Routes (GSR) project, this essay analyses the voyage of the Nassau (1781–85) along four main themes: the peculiarities of navigation during the Age of Sail, when the duration of a voyage was difficult to predict and subject to a range of possible accidents; the concrete reality of life on board, oscillating between the various activities of the crew and the episodes of desertion and insubordination that broke its daily routine; her military deployment, as the Nassau was directly involved in operations related to the Second Anglo-Mysore War; and, finally, her commercial activities, from the port cities of India to the seas of China.

Psychophysiological effects of walking in forests and urban built environments with disparate road traffic noise exposure: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundStress is a widespread phenomenon and reality of everyday life, entailing negative consequences for physical and psychological wellbeing. Previous studies have indicated that exposure to greenspaces and nature-based interventions are promising approaches to reducing stress and promoting restoration. However, an increasing percentage of the population lives in urban regions with limited opportunities to spend time in greenspaces. In addition, urban settings typically feature increased levels of noise, which represents a major environmental stressor. Although various studies have compared the effects of exposure to greenspaces versus urban built environments, evidence of the effects of noise in this context is very limited. Psychophysiological benefits of exposure to greenspaces compared to urban built environments reported in earlier studies might be less (or at least not only) due to features of the greenspaces than to additional stressors, such as road traffic noise in the urban built environment. Hence, differences in the effects attributed to greenness in previous studies may also be due to potentially detrimental noise effects in comparison settings. This paper reports the study protocol for a randomized, controlled intervention study comparing the effects of walking in forest versus urban built environments, taking road traffic noise exposure during walks in the respective settings into account.MethodsThe protocol envisages a field study employing a pretest–posttest design to compare the effects of 30-min walks in urban built environments and forests with different road traffic noise levels. Assessments will consist of self-reported measures, physiological data (salivary cortisol and skin conductance), an attention test, and noise, as well as greenness measurements. The outcomes will be restoration, stress, positive and negative affect, attention, rumination, and nature connectedness.DiscussionThe results will inform about the restorative effect of walking in general, of exposure to different types of environments, and to different noise levels in these sites. The study will provide insights into the benefits of walking and nature-based interventions, taking into account the potential detrimental effects of noise exposure. It will thus facilitate a better understanding of low-threshold interventions to prevent stress and foster wellbeing.Trial registrationISRCTN48943261; Registered 23.11.2023.

“POP/STARS”

In 2018, American developer Riot Games introduced their new musical venture – K-pop virtual band K/DA – through a live augmented reality performance opening the League of Legends World Championship Finals. The band’s first single – POP/STARS – quickly became a hit even outside of gaming circles, leading the developers to stage a follow-up in 2020, when the band released a full EP titled ALL OUT. This article examines the evolution of the virtual band and its members as virtual characters, personas, and performers, at the intersection of discourses surrounding popular music, videogames, and hallyu.

Life in a State of Limbo – Narratives of Place, Health, and Integration Among Later Life Female Migrants in Sweden

International migration is a prioritized domain of European aging research. Using a qualitative approach, the author has gathered accounts among Iranian later-life females in the Swedish city of Malmö, suffering from social isolation. The women in this article found themselves in a situation like that of other later-life migrants in Sweden. Several studies have shown how these groups are at risk of ending up in a social isolation which can be hard to break. The situation of the later-life migrant women discussed in this study is characterized by the loss of numerous deep-seated and natural social bonds connected to ethnicity, family, language, and culture. To cope with their exposed situation, the local Iranian-Swedish association provided some self-arranged activities, offering opportunities to social integration. The aim of the study is to demonstrate how the women described their life situation where a local day center made up the key foundation of their social life in  a Swedish city in 2000–2008. Typical of that period was that solutions of the alarming situation of some foreign-born elderly citizens were discussed by local authorities, as well as volunteer organizations. Thus, the aim is not to describe the present situation among later life migrants. On the contrary, the perspective is retrospective. The theoretical inspirations used in the article derive from a broader backdrop of social-constructive assumptions that define narratives or accounts as explanations of the reality of everyday life and experiences. In the article the women’s stories are defined as small, local, erratic narratives, nevertheless explaining the reality of everyday life and experiences which in their turn reflect the state of illness, locally specific attachment and social isolation. Three salient themes emerge in the material: place bound experiences, illness and unsuccessful integration. The narratives are defined as small irregular accounts, contrasting larger narratives of later-life migration. The article shows how the women depicted their situation as a borderline between an Iranian life in exile and a Swedish society, leaving them in a state of Limbo. The women expressed ambitions of integrate into a Swedish community of senior citizens, providing privileges and civil rights. Thus, the narratives challenge common generalizing images of later-life migrants and their life conditions.

Reducing food loss through sustainable business models and agricultural innovation systems

Purpose This study aims to explore how sustainable business models (SBM) can be developed within agri-innovation systems (AIS) and emphasize an integration of the two with a systemic understanding for reducing food loss and value loss in postharvest agri-food supply chain. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted longitudinal qualitative research in a developing country with food loss challenges in the postharvest supply chain. This study collected data through multiple rounds of fieldwork, interviews and focus groups over four years. Thematic analysis and “sensemaking” were used for inductive data analysis to generate rich contextual knowledge by drawing upon the lived realities of the agri-food supply chain actors. Findings First, this study finds that the value losses are varied in the supply chain, encompassing production value, intrinsic value, extrinsic value, market value, institutional value and future food value. This happens through two cumulative effects including multiplier losses, where losses in one model cascade into others, amplifying their impact and stacking losses, where the absence of data stacks or infrastructure pools hampers the realisation of food value. Thereafter, this study proposes four strategies for moving from the loss-incurring current business model to a networked SBM for mitigating losses. This emphasises the need to redefine ownership as stewardship, enable formal and informal beneficiary identification, strengthen value addition and build capacities for empowering communities to benefit from networked SBM with AIS initiatives. Finally, this study puts forth ten propositions for future research in aligning AIS with networked SBM. Originality/value This study contributes to understanding the interplay between AIS and SBM; emphasising the integration of the two to effectively address food loss challenges in the early stages of agri-food supply chains. The identified strategies and research propositions provide implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to accelerate sustainable practices for reducing food loss and waste in agri-food supply chains.

Supporting the COVID Response with Solutions from Science

January 2023 marks the 36th month following the World Health Organization’s declaration of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. Recent and upcoming events show how far the Philippines has come in terms of its response: emerging from what has been referred to as the world’s longest lockdown1, crowds converging in public spacesand participating in mass gatherings demonstrate how people are adapting to COVID-19 as a reality of daily life. The journey to this milestone has not been simple nor straightforward. In addition to the thousands of health care workers who provide frontline services, a multi-disciplinary group of scientists continues to work tirelessly in the background, dedicating their efforts to gain a better understanding of COVID, particularly in the Philippine context. For example:1. The Philippines has contributed over 12,000 sequences to the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) platform.2 This resource provides open access to genomic data on coronavirus and allows real-time surveillance to monitor the emergence of new COVID-19 variants globally.2. The FASSSTER (Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance Using Spatio-Temporal Epidemiological Modeler) team of computer and data scientists, mathematical and economics modelers, public health and epidemiological experts provides scenario-based projections for COVID-19 using a disease surveillance and modeling platform.3The platform outputs guide decision making by national and local government agencies for interventions such as community quarantines, granular lockdowns, and vaccination targets.3. The Department of Science and Technology is supporting more than 60 projects and studies through its ARCHER (Addressing and Responding to COVID-19 Through Health Research) program. Aside from the usual focus on diagnosis, treatment and prevention, work is also being done on a broad range of topics, such as AI/ICT-driven prediction models and COVID behavior studies.4 Even as scientists struggled to provide information and technology solutions to guide a rational response, governments followed their advice to varying degrees, sometimes resulting in confusing messages. The pandemic has truly highlighted the “synergies as well as the tensions between science and policy.”5Yin and colleagues explored the connection between science and policy in their 2021 paper published in Science. Matching the scientific references in policy documents obtained from a large-scale database with another publication and citation database provided the team with a “distinct opportunity to examine the role of science in the global policy responseto COVID-19.” They found that policy documents in the COVID-19 pandemic substantially access recent, peer-reviewed, and highimpact science. However, national policy approaches have varied greatly, with some countries being actively antagonistic to scientific advice.6 In a perfect world, science and government should work closely together to formulate evidence-based policy. Bicchieri et al. found the largest gaps between trust in science and trust in government in Colombia and Mexico; in contrast, the smallest were in Germany and South Korea, where policy and science were more aligned. They note that “country-level trust in science, and not in government, becomes a strong predictor of compliance.”7 According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the pandemic response requires a more collaborative relationship between scientists and policymakers. Their recommendations include strengthened use of science in policy, ensuring “open science,” universal access to solutions, and a faster response to scientific findings. Of note, the need for building public trust in science is also emphasized.8 For science to be able to provide solutions to support the COVID response, it must communicate, and it must be heard.

Unveiling the Dualities: Exploring the Intersectionality of Caste and Gender in Meena Kandasamy's Literary Landscape

This research paper delves into the nuanced portrayal of caste intersectionality with gender in the literary works of Meena Kandasamy, a prominent contemporary Indian writer. Kandasamy's narratives provide a rich tapestry through which to examine the multifaceted experiences of individuals navigating the complex social structures of caste and gender in India. Through a close analysis of selected texts, this study aims to elucidate the ways in which caste and gender intersect to shape identities, power dynamics, and social hierarchies. Drawing on intersectional feminist theory and postcolonial perspectives, the paper explores how Kandasamy's characters negotiate and resist the oppressive forces of caste and patriarchy, while also highlighting the complexities and contradictions inherent in their struggles for agency and liberation. By engaging with Kandasamy's literature, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the intricate interplay between caste and gender in contemporary Indian society, shedding light on the lived realities of marginalized individuals and communities.

Resisting sexisms, aggression, and burnout in academic leadership: Surviving in the gendered managerial academy

AbstractHow is it possible to survive as a woman senior leader in the gendered managerial academy? In this autoethnographical article, I illustrate the lived reality, insecurity, and struggle of academic leadership. Drawing from three vignettes, I discuss decision‐making processes, blatant sexist aggressions, and the problematic negation of affect and personal life. Their critical contribution is to expose the consequences of gendered managerialism in the neo‐liberal academy and the false promise of ‘leadership’, in which women continue to experience gender challenges, sexism, and the risk of burnout in their everyday experiences. However, I also show how it is possible to counter the detrimental effects of gendered managerialism through four forms of resistance: resistance through embodied affective authenticity; resistance through solidarities, and social relations with others; resistance through feminist activism; and resistance by stepping back.

MORAL EDUCATIONAL THINKING MUḤAMMAD ‘ALĪ AL-ṢĀBŪNĪ IN THE TAFSĪR ṢAFWATU AL-TAFĀSĪR

 The reality of life in today’s dynamics, we often see delinquency committed by children and adolescents who should reflect good character in themselves, but in their implementation have a bad character in their lives both in the school, community, and family environments. This article discusses the thought of Muḥammad ‘Alī al-Ṣābūnī’s moral education in Tafsīr Ṣafwatu al-Tafāsir which examines various aspects of Qur’anic scholarship. This research uses a library research method, with a descriptive qualitative analysis approach. The result of this research is Muḥammad ‘Alī al- Ṣābūnī actively writing and devoting his knowledge to education, one of his famous works is the book of Tafsīr Ṣafwatu al-Tafāsīr, this book is compiled from the core explanations of great commentaries that are detailed, concise, structured until it becomes clear and straightforward. Moral education is a guide to moral principles and special temperaments, habits that must be owned and made a habit by children from childhood to adulthood. The purpose of moral education is to form humans as supreme and perfect beings who have good behavior and deeds toward fellow humans, fellow creatures, and their Gods to achieve happiness both in this world and in the hereafter. The moral education studied through Tafsīr Ṣafwatu al-Tafāsir includes the nature of honesty, qana‘ah, and obedience. If these qualities can be implemented properly, then the evil that is rife will disappear, a clean heart will always be decorated with good deeds, and vice versa, a dirty heart will always be decorated with bad deeds.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PRINCIPLES OF INDIVIDUALIZATION AND DIFFERENTIATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES IN HIGH SCHOOL

The article examines the system and approaches of individualization and differentiation in the process of learning a foreign language in higher education. Determined factors that affect their functioning in the process of working in classes. Separate problems and ways to overcome them are analyzed. Certain opportunities for creating favorable conditions for the development of the creative potential of an individual, development of his thinking and understanding of the ultimate goal and task of learning a foreign language have been identified. Methods and techniques for increasing students’ cognitive activity in classes and strengthening their motivation are illustrated. The article examines the views of scientists N.P. Volkova, G.R. Havryshchak, O.M. Shparyk on individualization and differentiation as dominant and organic components of the educational process. Various approaches to the concepts of differentiation and individualization, as well as concepts related to them, are summarized. The works of these scientists became the theoretical and methodological basis of the conducted research. These principles help to find effective means for teaching a foreign language and learning it effectively. We must not forget that in higher education, the main influence on a student is his mood, curiosity, drive, concentration, surprise. The ability to stimulate the mental states we desire requires a process of individualization and differentiation of each student. A unique approach should be the whole system of education and training of the individual. This article describes the technology of implementing the abovementioned principles in English language classes in higher education. The use of internal differentiation for working in groups and the cluster method for strengthening the cognitive development of each individual when learning a foreign language in higher education are illustrated. The problem of a wide range of possibilities of these principles in the conditions of changes in the system of social relationships, rules of student behavior in the new realities of life is raised. Emphasis is placed on the importance of new requirements for the education system: flexibility, adaptability, feedback, quick response to changes in the social environment, cooperation with psychologists. Considered possible means of organizing students’ work in groups and individually, determined prospects for further research in this direction.

Aesthetic Governance and China's Rural Toilet Revolution

ABSTRACTThis article addresses aesthetic politics in the Chinese rural toilet revolution. Toilet retrofitting is conventionally regarded as an issue of sanitation improvement, but in the emerging trend of rural post‐productivism transformation, toilets have become contested sites of aesthetic governance in rural development. Using the case of a village in Northern China, the authors show that, in order to beautify the rural environment, toilet identification, selection, placement and demolition are all directed by aesthetic norms for a beautiful village. Additionally, the aestheticization of village development has legitimized state‐led development by creating a common‐sense understanding of and imagination for the future. However, aesthetic logics can represent a mismatch with the realities of local lives, resulting in place alienation and suspended development. This article unpacks the logics, mechanisms and spatial‐social processes of aesthetic governance in the Chinese toilet revolution.

Recognizing the agency of forced migrants with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics

Abstract In recent years, scholarship and policy reports have slowly attended to the lived realities of forced migrants with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). However, these emerging discourses are typically characterized by a violation-centric view that focuses on queer migrants’ vulnerabilities and experiences of victimization. Yet, what remains strikingly absent from existing research and advocacy engagement is how refugees with diverse SOGIESC across different settings also actively seek out services and build support networks; how they engage with their experiences on their own terms; how they resist violence; or in other words, how they exercise various forms of agency. In this field reflection, we emphasize the importance to recognize how and under what conditions forced migrants with diverse SOGIESC exercise agency. We put forward illustrative examples based on field reflections of working with refugees with diverse SOGIESC, opening up new perspectives for research, policy, and activism.

Invisibility and (Dis)Integration: Examining the Meaning of Migrant Inclusion in Everyday Lived Experience in Rural Areas

The settlement of migrants in rural areas that are facing population decline has gained increased attention in recent years as an economic, social, and political issue, as well as an opportunity for development for local communities. Studies have primarily focused on investigating whether and how migrants are integrated and included within these areas. This article adopts a fresh perspective by examining how the meaning of “integration” and “inclusion” is given shape by residents and migrant workers themselves. Our research centres on a small rural town in Sardinia, where individuals from Romania and West Africa have relocated to fill job positions traditionally held by Italians. Based on participant observation and in‐depth interviews, we examine the everyday experiences of residents and migrants to develop an understanding of the lived realities of integration and inclusion. In doing so, the article calls into question the perceived value of these processes for the very individuals that are supposed to benefit from them.

Kinship Health Relationships: Reconfiguring the “Good Death” in Mixed Species Families

Through an innovative interspecies analysis, this article explores narratives surrounding the medical treatment of humans and pet animals at the end of life among U.K. veterinary surgeons, medical practitioners, and members of the public. Contrasting the care options open to pet owners with those available to human patients, and through a thematic focus on treatments and medicines, euthanasia, and palliation, this article pays close attention to the ways that practitioners and members of the public make sense of—and express ideas about—interspecies family kinship at the end of life. We highlight the utility of interactionist approaches for understanding microsocial human‐animal kinship ties and argue that health policy and practice during end‐of‐life care should better reflect the lived reality of the multispecies family. In so doing, we highlight the significance and complexities of interspecies conversations for the development of contemporary end‐of‐life care debates.

Factors that Hinder the Development, Organization and Resizing of the New Socio-Econimic and Psycho-Social Reality in the Post COVID-19 Era in Kosovo

Purpose: This study examined the factors that hinder the development, organization and resizing of the new socio-economic and psycho-social reality in the Post-Covid-19 era in Kosovo.   Theoretical framework: Social transformations in the new re-dimensioning and dynamics of the modernity of life are bringing more and more innovations in the perception and judgment that people are making about the new social reality post-covid-19 and the accompanying challenges, especially in Kosovo.   Method: The methodology with quantitative path and correlative scope was used, which was administered in a questionnaire in which 100 respondents answered. Also, reports, documents from the author, agencies were used through which we got a better understanding of the difficulties that Covid-19 has brought to people's lives.   Results and conclusion: The statistical processing of the data allowed to conclude that the Post-COVID-19 period has brought a series of changes in the re-dimensioning of the new reality of life. First, in the emotional and psycho-social level of dealing with the consequences and secondly with personal and family economic recovery. In addition, the results show that the COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by restrictions on physical activity, social and financial problems, freedom of movement and even mental consequences accompanied by forgetfulness.   Research implications: Practice of coping with COVID-19 and the post-covid period have shown stressful results. Almost, a considerable part of the respondents still continue to face limitations which have left psycho-social and emotional consequences in their lives. Therefore, this research has been developed in the post-pandemic period with conditions and limitations to deeply understand the re-dimensioning of the new social reality of Post-Covid-19.   Originality/value: This questionnaire had 10 items respectively. They were also shown to be very reliable for application.

Decolonization in South African universities: storytelling as subversion and reclamation

Abstract Underscoring recurrent calls for the decolonization of university curricula in South Africa are underexplored presumptions that by only disrupting theoretical content, universities might release themselves from a colonialist grasp, that continues to dominate and distort higher education discourse. While it might be the case that certain theories hold enormous authoritative, ‘truthful’ sway, as propagated through western interpretations and norms, there are inherent problems in exclusively approaching the decolonization project as a content-based hurdle, removed from the subjectivities of students’ social, lived and learning realities. The argument advanced in this article is that until the epistemic harm of colonialism and apartheid are afforded careful recognition and attention – as in focusing on the lived experiences, realities, and stories of individuals - the hard work of de-legitimizing coloniality, and its implicit structures of hegemonies and binaries cannot unfold. In addressing these harms, I commence by describing some of the contexts of epistemic harm, promulgated through colonialism and apartheid. This is followed by a consideration of decolonization, both as theory and practice-within-context. Here, I also foreground the #Rhodesmustfall campaign, as a particular moment of painful clarity about why decolonization, as well as transformation have faltered in higher education in South Africa. In the second half, I focus on the necessity of prioritising storytelling as a deep manifestation of decolonization. Stories, I maintain, provide access into unknown lives, and can subvert the invisible, normative framings, which dictate how we live in this world. As a manifestation of decolonization, students’ stories hold profound implications for the recognition and affirmation of pluralist identities, histories, knowledge, values, and worldviews.

Floating people, changing climate: a migrant-sensitive approach to climate adaptation and mobilities in the Bengal Delta

Climate adaptation efforts in the Bengal Delta do not fully integrate migrants, who have moved between rural and urban spaces for decades for diverse reasons that now include the impacts of climate change. Despite the reality of mobile lives in the region, organisations implementing adaptation projects approach circular mobilities as undesirable, against ideals for development. These organisations play a crucial role in shaping how migrants as floating people are considered in such a climate-vulnerable context. Drawing upon a combined 16 months of fieldwork in the Bengal Delta region of India and Bangladesh and using data from in-depth interviews with diverse organisational actors, we find that adaptation projects in this region are mainly designed to keep people in place, as stationary populations in either urban destinations or rural areas of origin. They fail to address the multiplicity of mobilities in the region and neglect compounded vulnerabilities of migrants in the face of intersecting crises such as climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the findings, we conceptualise and call for a migrant-sensitive approach to adaptation that embraces local complexities of climate-related (im)mobilities and development.