journal article
Patterns of Translocality: Migration, Livelihoods and Identities in Northwest NamibiaSociologus
Vol. 60, No. 2 (2010)
, pp. 131-161 (31 pages)
Published By: Duncker & Humblot GmbH
//www.jstor.org/stable/43645660
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Abstract
Social relations in Namibia's southern Kunene region are shaped by translocal patterns of migration, exchange and identity. Young people move to urban areas for schooling and work, older family members return to the countryside upon retirement to take care of the livestock and the rural homesteads. These movements are accompanied by remittances and resource transfers, critical for securing livelihoods in rural as well as in urban contexts. People experience movement between households from childhood on, and many migrants develop identities that combine rural and urban lifestyles. Still, the rural homes remain the symbolic, social and economic center for most migrants. Based on data from multi-sited field work, this article examines the emergence and current patterns of migration, exchange and identity formation. The author outlines a translocal perspective and argues that, in order to deepen our understanding of these dynamics, it might be productive to borrow insights from recent studies of transnationalism. Soziale Beziehungen in Namibias südlicher Kunene-Region sind durch Muster translokaler Migration, Austausch und Identität geprägt. Für die Schulausbildung und zur Erwerbstätigkeit ziehen die Jungen in die städtischen Gebiete, die Alten kehren zurück aufs Land, wo sie sich um die Viehzucht und die Höfe kümmern. Diese Bewegungen werden von Ressourcentransfers begleitet, die einen wichtigen Beitrag zum Haushaltsbudget in Land und Stadt darstellen. Mobilität wird von Kindesbeinen auf erlernt, und viele Migranten entwickeln Identitäten, die ländliche und urbane Lebensstile vereinen. Dennoch stellt die ländliche Heimat das symbolische, soziale und ökonomische Zentrum für viele Migranten dar. Auf Grundlage ethnographischer Daten aus Stadt und Land analysiert dieser Beitrag Entstehung und gegenwärtige Muster von Migration, Austausch und Identitätskonstruktion. Der Autor entwickelt eine translokale Perspektive und argumentiert, dass es hilfreich ist, auf Erkenntnisse der jüngeren Transnationalismus-Forschung zurück zu greifen, um diese Dynamiken besser verstehen zu können.
Journal Information
Sociologus is an internationally known, peer-reviewed journal of social anthropology. It is available online and in print and is listed in the major scholarly indexes. Founded in 1925 by Richard Thurnwald, it is one of the best-known anthropology journals in the German-speaking world. The journal is dedicated to empirical research on cultural diversity, social processes and their transformations and the contrasting forms of social relations. It has no fixed topical or regional focus, but concerns itself with the comparative interpretation and explanation of human behaviour. Its international status is underlined by the use of English as a second language of publication and the fact that more than half of the subscriptions are held by overseas institutions. Today, Sociologus aims at providing European, especially German-speaking, social anthropologists with the opportunity to contribute to international discussion and research through a publication that meets the highest international standards.
Publisher Information
The publisher Duncker and Humblot currently publishes more than 250 scientific monographs and anthologies each year in more than 150 series as well as 20 scientific journals and yearbooks. The program comprises more than 15,000 available titles in the fields of law and economics, economics and social sciences, history, political science, literature, philosophy. Im Verlag Duncker and Humblot erscheinen derzeit jährlich über 250 wissenschaftliche Monographien bzw. Sammelbände in mehr als 150 Schriftenreihen sowie 20 wissenschaftliche Zeitschriften und Jahrbücher. Das Programm umfaßt mehr als 15.000 lieferbare Titel zu den Fachgebieten: Rechts- und Staatswissenschaften, Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Geschichte, Politikwissenschaft, Literaturwissenschaft, Philosophie.
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