Mobility, Transnationalism and Contemporary African Societies

Mobility, Transnationalism and Contemporary African Societies

Author: Tilo Grätz

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2010-01-08

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1443818852

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The book is meant to shed new light on migratory processes pertinent to Sub-Saharan Africa. It starts out from the position that contemporary migratory movements can only be assessed by employing an appropriate theoretical framework which helps with conceptualising both localised strategies of migrants, i.e. their modes of adaptation, economic and social integration into host societies and the way they maintain relationships back home, across places and nations, i.e. translocal aspects of their mobility in terms of networking, communication or economic as well as cultural transfers. It this respect, the book contributes to the current debate on processes and effects of worldwide mobility, addressing causes and effects and the various aspects of a “culture of migration” relevant for the African continent. Additionally, the book tries to go beyond the usual structural discussions and reflections on mobility and migration by looking at actual migrant practices, their social creativity, the employment of flexible responses to often restrictive governmental policies. Finally, the volume also discusses the often neglected issue of (involuntary) immobility, as well as the significance of borders, in both limiting mobility and in creating new “borderline” strategies, to employ a notion by Ines Kohl with regard to migrants’ transnational strategies. The book addresses a wide readership in Human Sciences; especially from African Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, and Political Sciences.


Book Synopsis Mobility, Transnationalism and Contemporary African Societies by : Tilo Grätz

Download or read book Mobility, Transnationalism and Contemporary African Societies written by Tilo Grätz and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2010-01-08 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is meant to shed new light on migratory processes pertinent to Sub-Saharan Africa. It starts out from the position that contemporary migratory movements can only be assessed by employing an appropriate theoretical framework which helps with conceptualising both localised strategies of migrants, i.e. their modes of adaptation, economic and social integration into host societies and the way they maintain relationships back home, across places and nations, i.e. translocal aspects of their mobility in terms of networking, communication or economic as well as cultural transfers. It this respect, the book contributes to the current debate on processes and effects of worldwide mobility, addressing causes and effects and the various aspects of a “culture of migration” relevant for the African continent. Additionally, the book tries to go beyond the usual structural discussions and reflections on mobility and migration by looking at actual migrant practices, their social creativity, the employment of flexible responses to often restrictive governmental policies. Finally, the volume also discusses the often neglected issue of (involuntary) immobility, as well as the significance of borders, in both limiting mobility and in creating new “borderline” strategies, to employ a notion by Ines Kohl with regard to migrants’ transnational strategies. The book addresses a wide readership in Human Sciences; especially from African Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, and Political Sciences.

African Transnational Mobility in China

African Transnational Mobility in China

Author: Roberto Castillo

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-12-29

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 1000338096

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Considering the African presence in China from an ethnographic and cultural studies perspective, this book offers a new way to theorise contemporary and future forms of transnational mobilities while expanding our understandings around the transformations happening in both China and Africa. The author develops an original argument and new theoretical insights about the significance of the African presence in Guangzhou, and presents an invaluable case study for understanding particular modes of transnational mobility. More broadly, it challenges forms of (re)presenting and producing knowledge about subjects on the move; and it transforms existing theorisations and critical understandings of mobility and its shaping power. Through an ethnographic approach, the book brings us closer to a number of practices, features and objects that, while characterising the lives of Africans in Guangzhou, are also evidence of the interplay between individual aspirations, and the structural constraints embedded in contemporary regimes of transnational mobility. Raising critical questions about ways of (un)belonging in the precarious settings of neoliberal modernity and the future of African mobilities, this book will be of interest to scholars of transnational, African and Chinese Studies.


Book Synopsis African Transnational Mobility in China by : Roberto Castillo

Download or read book African Transnational Mobility in China written by Roberto Castillo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-29 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considering the African presence in China from an ethnographic and cultural studies perspective, this book offers a new way to theorise contemporary and future forms of transnational mobilities while expanding our understandings around the transformations happening in both China and Africa. The author develops an original argument and new theoretical insights about the significance of the African presence in Guangzhou, and presents an invaluable case study for understanding particular modes of transnational mobility. More broadly, it challenges forms of (re)presenting and producing knowledge about subjects on the move; and it transforms existing theorisations and critical understandings of mobility and its shaping power. Through an ethnographic approach, the book brings us closer to a number of practices, features and objects that, while characterising the lives of Africans in Guangzhou, are also evidence of the interplay between individual aspirations, and the structural constraints embedded in contemporary regimes of transnational mobility. Raising critical questions about ways of (un)belonging in the precarious settings of neoliberal modernity and the future of African mobilities, this book will be of interest to scholars of transnational, African and Chinese Studies.

Mobility between Africa, Asia and Latin America

Mobility between Africa, Asia and Latin America

Author: Ute Röschenthaler

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2017-08-15

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 1786990830

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Trade connections and cultural exchange between Africa and the rest of the global South have existed for centuries. Since the end of the Cold War, these connections have expanded and diversified dramatically, with emerging economies such as China, India, and Brazil becoming increasingly important both as sources of trade and as a destination for African migrants. But while these trends have attracted growing scholarly attention, there has so far been little appreciation of the sheer breadth and variety of this exchange, or of its deeper social impact. This collection brings together a wide array of scholarly perspectives to explore the movement of people, commodities, and ideas between Africa and the wider global South, with rich empirical case studies ranging from Senegalese migrants in Argentina to Lebanese traders in Nigeria. The contributors argue that this exchange represents a form of ‘globalization from below’ which defies many of the prevailing Western assumptions about migration and development, and which can only be understood if we consider the full range and complexity of migrant experiences. Multidisciplinary in scope, Mobility between Africa, Asia and Latin America is essential reading for students and scholars across the social sciences interested in the interconnected economic and social make-up of the global South.


Book Synopsis Mobility between Africa, Asia and Latin America by : Ute Röschenthaler

Download or read book Mobility between Africa, Asia and Latin America written by Ute Röschenthaler and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Trade connections and cultural exchange between Africa and the rest of the global South have existed for centuries. Since the end of the Cold War, these connections have expanded and diversified dramatically, with emerging economies such as China, India, and Brazil becoming increasingly important both as sources of trade and as a destination for African migrants. But while these trends have attracted growing scholarly attention, there has so far been little appreciation of the sheer breadth and variety of this exchange, or of its deeper social impact. This collection brings together a wide array of scholarly perspectives to explore the movement of people, commodities, and ideas between Africa and the wider global South, with rich empirical case studies ranging from Senegalese migrants in Argentina to Lebanese traders in Nigeria. The contributors argue that this exchange represents a form of ‘globalization from below’ which defies many of the prevailing Western assumptions about migration and development, and which can only be understood if we consider the full range and complexity of migrant experiences. Multidisciplinary in scope, Mobility between Africa, Asia and Latin America is essential reading for students and scholars across the social sciences interested in the interconnected economic and social make-up of the global South.

Forging African Communities

Forging African Communities

Author: Oliver Bakewell

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-11-22

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1137581948

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This book draws renewed attention to migration into and within Africa, and to the socio-political consequences of these movements. In doing so, it complements vibrant scholarly and political discussions of migrant integration globally with innovative, interdisciplinary perspectives focused on migration within Africa. It sheds new light on how human mobility redefines the meaning of home, community, citizenship and belonging. The authors ask how people’s movements within the continent are forging novel forms of membership while catalysing social change within the communities and countries to which they move and which they have left behind. Original case studies from across Africa question the concepts, actors, and social trajectories dominant in the contemporary literature. Moreover, it speaks to and challenges sociological debates over the nature of migrant integration, debates largely shaped by research in the world’s wealthy regions. The text, in part or as a whole, will appeal to students and scholars of migration, development, urban and rural transformation, African studies and displacement.


Book Synopsis Forging African Communities by : Oliver Bakewell

Download or read book Forging African Communities written by Oliver Bakewell and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-11-22 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book draws renewed attention to migration into and within Africa, and to the socio-political consequences of these movements. In doing so, it complements vibrant scholarly and political discussions of migrant integration globally with innovative, interdisciplinary perspectives focused on migration within Africa. It sheds new light on how human mobility redefines the meaning of home, community, citizenship and belonging. The authors ask how people’s movements within the continent are forging novel forms of membership while catalysing social change within the communities and countries to which they move and which they have left behind. Original case studies from across Africa question the concepts, actors, and social trajectories dominant in the contemporary literature. Moreover, it speaks to and challenges sociological debates over the nature of migrant integration, debates largely shaped by research in the world’s wealthy regions. The text, in part or as a whole, will appeal to students and scholars of migration, development, urban and rural transformation, African studies and displacement.

Mobility and Family in Transnational Space

Mobility and Family in Transnational Space

Author: Tatiana Ferreira

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2016-02-29

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 1443889652

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This book brings together a range of papers on transnational lives, mobility and gender studies from various disciplinary perspectives and geographical contexts, including European, African and American countries. The thirteen contributions to the volume provide insights into transnational migration and family issues, offering a renewed theoretical approach to the differing conditions in migration access in origin societies and the scope of social inclusion in the receiving countries. The diversity of the authors’ backgrounds and the range of geographical contexts allow a wider understanding of the family in the transnational space, one that considers mobility as a developmental opportunity for individuals, whose consequences in the contemporary world have not yet been sufficiently studied.


Book Synopsis Mobility and Family in Transnational Space by : Tatiana Ferreira

Download or read book Mobility and Family in Transnational Space written by Tatiana Ferreira and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2016-02-29 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings together a range of papers on transnational lives, mobility and gender studies from various disciplinary perspectives and geographical contexts, including European, African and American countries. The thirteen contributions to the volume provide insights into transnational migration and family issues, offering a renewed theoretical approach to the differing conditions in migration access in origin societies and the scope of social inclusion in the receiving countries. The diversity of the authors’ backgrounds and the range of geographical contexts allow a wider understanding of the family in the transnational space, one that considers mobility as a developmental opportunity for individuals, whose consequences in the contemporary world have not yet been sufficiently studied.

Social Spaces of African Societies

Social Spaces of African Societies

Author: Jürgen Ossenbrügge

Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9783825878504

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Transnational social spaces" have emerged in recent years as a research area within migration and area studies. This volume is about African social spaces. It incorporates examples of Central and Western Africa as well as of African-European relations. Contributors from different disciplines, such as anthropology, geography, and political and educational sciences outline their interpretations of transnational social spaces, based on theoretical and empirical work within a wider research project at the University of Hamburg about contemporary transformations of African societies. Jrgen O?enbrgge is professor of economic and political geography at the University of Hamburg. Mechthild Reh is professor for African Studies at the University of Hamburg


Book Synopsis Social Spaces of African Societies by : Jürgen Ossenbrügge

Download or read book Social Spaces of African Societies written by Jürgen Ossenbrügge and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2004 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Transnational social spaces" have emerged in recent years as a research area within migration and area studies. This volume is about African social spaces. It incorporates examples of Central and Western Africa as well as of African-European relations. Contributors from different disciplines, such as anthropology, geography, and political and educational sciences outline their interpretations of transnational social spaces, based on theoretical and empirical work within a wider research project at the University of Hamburg about contemporary transformations of African societies. Jrgen O?enbrgge is professor of economic and political geography at the University of Hamburg. Mechthild Reh is professor for African Studies at the University of Hamburg

Hope and Uncertainty in Contemporary African Migration

Hope and Uncertainty in Contemporary African Migration

Author: Nauja Kleist

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2016-11-25

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1317335481

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This volume examines the relationship between hope, mobility, and immobility in African migration. Through case studies set within and beyond the continent, it demonstrates that hope offers a unique prism for analyzing the social imaginaries and aspirations which underpin migration in situations of uncertainty, deepening inequality, and delimited access to global circuits of legal mobility. The volume takes departure in a mobility paradox that characterizes contemporary migration. Whereas people all over the world are exposed to widening sets of meaning of the good life elsewhere, an increasing number of people in the Global South have little or no access to authorized modes of international migration. This book examines how African migrants respond to this situation. Focusing on hope, it explores migrants’ temporal and spatial horizons of expectation and possibility and how these horizons link to mobility practices. Such analysis is pertinent as precarious life conditions and increasingly restrictive regimes of mobility characterize the lives of many Africans, while migration continues to constitute important livelihood strategies and to be seen as pathways of improvement. Whereas involuntary immobility is one consequence, another is the emergence and consolidation of new destinations emerging in the Global South. The volume examines this development through empirically grounded and theoretically rich case studies in migrants’ countries of origin, zones of transit, and in new and established destinations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Latin America and China. It thereby offers an original perspective on linkages between migration, hope, and immobility, ranging from migration aspirations to return.


Book Synopsis Hope and Uncertainty in Contemporary African Migration by : Nauja Kleist

Download or read book Hope and Uncertainty in Contemporary African Migration written by Nauja Kleist and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-11-25 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines the relationship between hope, mobility, and immobility in African migration. Through case studies set within and beyond the continent, it demonstrates that hope offers a unique prism for analyzing the social imaginaries and aspirations which underpin migration in situations of uncertainty, deepening inequality, and delimited access to global circuits of legal mobility. The volume takes departure in a mobility paradox that characterizes contemporary migration. Whereas people all over the world are exposed to widening sets of meaning of the good life elsewhere, an increasing number of people in the Global South have little or no access to authorized modes of international migration. This book examines how African migrants respond to this situation. Focusing on hope, it explores migrants’ temporal and spatial horizons of expectation and possibility and how these horizons link to mobility practices. Such analysis is pertinent as precarious life conditions and increasingly restrictive regimes of mobility characterize the lives of many Africans, while migration continues to constitute important livelihood strategies and to be seen as pathways of improvement. Whereas involuntary immobility is one consequence, another is the emergence and consolidation of new destinations emerging in the Global South. The volume examines this development through empirically grounded and theoretically rich case studies in migrants’ countries of origin, zones of transit, and in new and established destinations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Latin America and China. It thereby offers an original perspective on linkages between migration, hope, and immobility, ranging from migration aspirations to return.

Regimes of Mobility

Regimes of Mobility

Author: Noel B. Salazar

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-08-25

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 1317747259

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Mobility studies emerged from a postmodern moment in which global ‘flows’ of capital, people and objects were increasingly noted and celebrated. Within this new scholarship, categories of migrancy are all seen through the same analytical lens. This book builds on, as well as critiques, past and present studies of mobility. In so doing, it challenges conceptual orientations built on binaries of difference that have impeded analyses of the interrelationship between mobility and stasis. These include methodological nationalism, which counterpoises concepts of internal and international movement and native and foreigner, and consequently normalises stasis. Instead, the book proposes a ‘regimes of mobility’ framework that addresses the relationships between mobility and immobility, localisation and transnational connection, experiences and imaginaries of migration, and rootedness and cosmopolitan openness. Within this framework and its emphasis on social fields of differential power, the various contributors to this collection ethnographically explore the disparities, inequalities, racialised representations and national mythscapes that facilitate and legitimate differential mobility and fixity. Although they examine nation-state building processes, the anthropological analysis is not confined by national boundaries. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.


Book Synopsis Regimes of Mobility by : Noel B. Salazar

Download or read book Regimes of Mobility written by Noel B. Salazar and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-08-25 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mobility studies emerged from a postmodern moment in which global ‘flows’ of capital, people and objects were increasingly noted and celebrated. Within this new scholarship, categories of migrancy are all seen through the same analytical lens. This book builds on, as well as critiques, past and present studies of mobility. In so doing, it challenges conceptual orientations built on binaries of difference that have impeded analyses of the interrelationship between mobility and stasis. These include methodological nationalism, which counterpoises concepts of internal and international movement and native and foreigner, and consequently normalises stasis. Instead, the book proposes a ‘regimes of mobility’ framework that addresses the relationships between mobility and immobility, localisation and transnational connection, experiences and imaginaries of migration, and rootedness and cosmopolitan openness. Within this framework and its emphasis on social fields of differential power, the various contributors to this collection ethnographically explore the disparities, inequalities, racialised representations and national mythscapes that facilitate and legitimate differential mobility and fixity. Although they examine nation-state building processes, the anthropological analysis is not confined by national boundaries. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

African Diaspora Identities

African Diaspora Identities

Author: John W. Arthur

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2010-08-20

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0739146394

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African Diaspora Identities provides insights into the complex transnational processes involved in shaping the migratory identities of African immigrants. It seeks to understand the durability of these African transnational migrant identities and their impact on inter-minority group relationships. John A. Arthur demonstrates that the identities African immigrants construct often transcends country-specific cultures and normative belief systems. He illuminates the fact that these transnational migrant identities are an amalgamation of multiple identities formed in varied social transnational settings. The United States has become a site for the cultural formations, manifestations, and contestations of the newer identities that these immigrants seek to depict in cross-cultural and global settings. Relying mostly on their strong human capital resources (education and family), Africans are devising creative, encompassing, and robust ways to position and reposition their new identities. In combining their African cultural forms and identities with new roles, norms, and beliefs that they imbibe in the United States and everywhere else they have settled, Africans are redefining what it means to be black in a race-, ethnicity-, and color-conscious American society.


Book Synopsis African Diaspora Identities by : John W. Arthur

Download or read book African Diaspora Identities written by John W. Arthur and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2010-08-20 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African Diaspora Identities provides insights into the complex transnational processes involved in shaping the migratory identities of African immigrants. It seeks to understand the durability of these African transnational migrant identities and their impact on inter-minority group relationships. John A. Arthur demonstrates that the identities African immigrants construct often transcends country-specific cultures and normative belief systems. He illuminates the fact that these transnational migrant identities are an amalgamation of multiple identities formed in varied social transnational settings. The United States has become a site for the cultural formations, manifestations, and contestations of the newer identities that these immigrants seek to depict in cross-cultural and global settings. Relying mostly on their strong human capital resources (education and family), Africans are devising creative, encompassing, and robust ways to position and reposition their new identities. In combining their African cultural forms and identities with new roles, norms, and beliefs that they imbibe in the United States and everywhere else they have settled, Africans are redefining what it means to be black in a race-, ethnicity-, and color-conscious American society.

Cultures of Migration

Cultures of Migration

Author: Jeffrey H. Cohen

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2011-09-01

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 0292742460

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Around the globe, people leave their homes to better themselves, to satisfy needs, and to care for their families. They also migrate to escape undesirable conditions, ranging from a lack of economic opportunities to violent conflicts at home or in the community. Most studies of migration have analyzed the topic at either the macro level of national and global economic and political forces, or the micro level of the psychology of individual migrants. Few studies have examined the "culture of migration"—that is, the cultural beliefs and social patterns that influence people to move. Cultures of Migration combines anthropological and geographical sensibilities, as well as sociological and economic models, to explore the household-level decision-making process that prompts migration. The authors draw their examples not only from their previous studies of Mexican Oaxacans and Turkish Kurds but also from migrants from Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific, and many parts of Asia. They examine social, economic, and political factors that can induce a household to decide to send members abroad, along with the cultural beliefs and traditions that can limit migration. The authors look at both transnational and internal migrations, and at shorter- and longer-term stays in the receiving location. They also consider the effect that migration has on those who remain behind. The authors' "culture of migration" model adds an important new dimension to our understanding of the cultural beliefs and social patterns associated with migration and will help specialists better respond to increasing human mobility.


Book Synopsis Cultures of Migration by : Jeffrey H. Cohen

Download or read book Cultures of Migration written by Jeffrey H. Cohen and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the globe, people leave their homes to better themselves, to satisfy needs, and to care for their families. They also migrate to escape undesirable conditions, ranging from a lack of economic opportunities to violent conflicts at home or in the community. Most studies of migration have analyzed the topic at either the macro level of national and global economic and political forces, or the micro level of the psychology of individual migrants. Few studies have examined the "culture of migration"—that is, the cultural beliefs and social patterns that influence people to move. Cultures of Migration combines anthropological and geographical sensibilities, as well as sociological and economic models, to explore the household-level decision-making process that prompts migration. The authors draw their examples not only from their previous studies of Mexican Oaxacans and Turkish Kurds but also from migrants from Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific, and many parts of Asia. They examine social, economic, and political factors that can induce a household to decide to send members abroad, along with the cultural beliefs and traditions that can limit migration. The authors look at both transnational and internal migrations, and at shorter- and longer-term stays in the receiving location. They also consider the effect that migration has on those who remain behind. The authors' "culture of migration" model adds an important new dimension to our understanding of the cultural beliefs and social patterns associated with migration and will help specialists better respond to increasing human mobility.