Moving from Great Love: Gendered Mobilities in a Post‐Tsunami Relocation Neighborhood in Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

Residential relocation can have profound effects on people’s mobilities. This article explores changes in the mobilities of people who were relocated to Great Love village, a newly built neighborhood in Aceh, Indonesia, after the devastating 2004 tsunami. The relative isolation of this neighborhood limits mobilities and work opportunities of the low‐income population. However, women’s mobilities became much more limited than men’s. Building on the notion of mobility as a capability, the article discusses how access to this capability becomes gendered through everyday practices. It concludes that in this neighborhood limited physical mobility has led to social exclusion of women. Nevertheless, people also have reasons to stay, one of which is the prospect of future social mobility through homeownership.

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