The stayers’ choice: motivations for voluntary immobility in wartime: a comparative case study of Kosovo and Ukraine

This research examines immobility (staying) in the context of war, focusing on Ukrainian stayers during the ongoing Russian invasion and on the Albanian stayers during Kosovo’s 1998–1999-armed conflict. The study explores voluntary immobility (choosing to remain) in armed conflict, challenging traditional narratives that predominantly focus on forced migration and displacement. Using semi-structured interviews analysed through thematic analysis, the research identified overlapping reasons for staying across both contexts: symbolic resistance to aggression, deep-rooted place attachment, cultural identity preservation, aversion to refugee status, and fear of social status decline. The findings also show some differences in motivations, including focus on familial obligations and economic reasons in the case of Albanian stayers and remoteness to the frontlines for Ukrainians. Our findings contribute to the research on voluntary immobility by elucidating individual, social, and structural factors that underpin the decision to stay in the context of war and armed conflict. This research demonstrates that decisions to remain are as significant as decisions to flee, offering valuable insights into how people navigate the challenging choice of immobility during war and military conflict.