Name: Public defence: Anouk Brisebois
Start: 2026-02-12
End: 2026-02-12
Location: Pilestredet, Pilestredet 44: room V130

10:00: Trial lecture
12:00: Public defence

The title of the trial lecture: (Im)mobility, Adaptive Pathways, and the Boundaries between Adaptation and Maladaptation.

The title of the thesis is "Migrating to a better future?: Gendered outcomes of internal mobility and implications for adaptation in urban Bangladesh".

The ordinary opponents are:

First opponent: Associate Professor Bishawjit Mallick, Utrecht University
Second opponent: Harald Sterly, University of Vienna
Chair of the committee: Associate Professor Benedikte Lindskog, Oslo Metropolitan University
The leader of the public defense is Associate Professor Kristin Solli, Faculty of Education and International Studies, OsloMet

The main supervisor is Anne Waldrop, Professor at Department of International Studies and Interpreting, OsloMet. The co-supervisor is Roman Hoffman, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria.

Follow the streamed event (zoom.oslomet.us)

Thesis abstract

This article-based PhD thesis explores how internal mobility influences migrants’ everyday lives and experiences at their destination in Mongla, Bangladesh. Based on qualitative interviews with migrant women and some of their husbands, it examines the potential of mobility for adaptation from a gender perspective.

This research draws theoretically on the interplay between power structures and agency to investigate migrant women’s and men’s distinct opportunities and constraints at their destination. It focuses on three dimensions central to mobility studies, namely livelihood trajectories, aspirations and capabilities, and climate risks and social resilience.

The findings show that internal mobility outcomes and the implications for adaptation at the destination are deeply gendered. They are shaped by persisting gender roles and norms and cultural practices that perpetuate gender inequalities and limit women’s opportunities at their destination. By highlighting these power dynamics, this thesis contributes to the field of mobility studies, and notably the mobility-as-adaptation debate from a gender perspective.