Preserving the future through the past: collective memory and immobility in adversity

Abstract

While prevailing research on migration predominantly concentrates on individuals fleeing adversities, this approach results in an underrepresentation of communities that exhibit a desire for immobility even in adversity. Thus, the decision of some community members to resist displacement and stay put in communities exposed to adversity, such as violent conflict—eco-violence, is underexplored; this article addresses this gap. In this article, grounded in the concept of collective memory, a reflexive thematic approach is used to analyze data collected in May 2022 from focus group participants in Benue and Nasarawa states in the North Central region of Nigeria. Among other things, the findings highlight the role of collective and materialized memories in shaping the attachments of community members to their ancestral land and their subsequent voluntary adoption of immobility. This article enriches the literature by presenting a perspective on how people’s memories shape the dynamics that support their quest for immobility within their conflict-affected communities, in this case, in the Nigerian context.