Adaptive labour: a typology of climate (im)mobilities and structured stillness in tourism contexts

Abstract

This study examines climate immobility within tourism economies, arguing that remaining in place is not merely a sign of vulnerability but a functional and relational burden. Drawing on 56 interviews across eleven destinations in Vietnam, the paper develops a grounded typology of six forms of climate immobility: performative, aesthetic, seasonal, bypassed, constrained, and adaptive. These forms of staying are shaped by tourism imaginaries, infrastructural expectations, and labour roles, showing that immobility often enables the movement and comfort of others. Integrating insights from structuration theory, climate vulnerability, and mobility justice, the study demonstrates that immobility is actively produced through policy design, spatial expectations, and unequal responsibilities. Rather than a passive condition, climate immobility is reframed as an essential but often invisible adaptation function, captured here as adaptive labour and as structured stillness. The findings contribute to climate justice debates by highlighting the overlooked labour of staying and align with sustainable development goals 13 and 8.