Empirical research on the links between environmental change and human (im)mobility has made considerable progress in the last decade. However, most attention is given to migration rather than understanding immobility, where human-centered perspectives are scarce and various regions remain critically understudied. This paper seeks to address these deficits. Methodologically based on 75 qualitative in-depth interviews and 8 focus group sessions with rural residents around desiccating Lake Urmia (Iran), the study takes individual perceptions of environmental degradation and lived experiences of immobility as its fundamental starting point. It investigates what (in)tangible losses occur and analyses what matters most in shaping the aspirations and capabilities to migrate or stay. The findings provide unique empirical evidence of the multifaceted dimensions along the spectrum of immobility, moving beyond the prevailing binary views of voluntary immobility and trapped populations. A key finding of this study is the elucidation of ‘ambivalent immobility’, comprising individuals whose (im)mobility aspirations are complex and contradictory: they want to stay, but also leave, constantly weighing their growing local dissatisfaction against their attachments to place and the psychological/economic costs of migration. Another novel contribution concerns ‘precarious immobility’, expanding our knowledge of how individuals understand themselves as trapped. Grounded in capability constraints and emotional distress exacerbated by environmental change, individuals from this group did not voice any (im)mobility aspirations. This distinguished them from the involuntary or acquiescent immobile residents in the study, who despite capability constraints either aspired to migrate or expressed a preference to stay. Thus, this paper highlights the complexity of aspirations in contexts of environmental degradation and underscores the need for more qualitative research to complement quantitative efforts to foster a more nuanced understanding of the diverse causes, dimensions, and consequences of immobility.

中文翻译：

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超越被困人口和自愿不流动的二元性：以人为本的视角看待伊朗乌尔米耶湖的环境变化和人类不流动

过去十年，关于环境变化与人类（不）流动之间联系的实证研究取得了相当大的进展。然而，大多数注意力都集中在移民上，而不是理解流动性，以人为中心的观点很少，而且各个地区的研究仍然严重不足。本文旨在解决这些缺陷。该研究在方法上基于 75 次定性深度访谈和 8 次与干燥的乌尔米亚湖（伊朗）周围农村居民的焦点小组会议，以个人对环境退化的看法和不动的生活经历作为其基本出发点。它调查发生了哪些（无形）有形损失，并分析了在塑造移民或留下来的愿望和能力方面最重要的因素。这些发现提供了关于不流动范围内多方面维度的独特经验证据，超越了自愿不流动和被困人口的普遍二元观点。这项研究的一个关键发现是阐明了“矛盾的不动性”，包括那些（不动）流动性愿望复杂且矛盾的个体：他们想留下来，但也想离开，不断权衡对当地日益增长的不满与对地方和社会的依恋。移民的心理/经济成本。另一项新颖的贡献涉及“不稳定的静止”，扩展了我们对个人如何理解自己被困住的认识。由于能力限制和环境变化加剧的情绪困扰，该群体中的个人没有表达任何（或）流动性愿望。这将他们与研究中非自愿或默许不动的居民区分开来，后者尽管能力有限，要么渴望移民，要么表示愿意留下来。因此，本文强调了环境退化背景下愿望的复杂性，并强调需要进行更多定性研究来补充定量工作，以促进对不流动的不同原因、维度和后果的更细致的理解。