Beyond Economics :  The Role of Socio-political Factors in Hadiya Migration to South Africa

Feyissa, Dereje

doi:10.13169/zanjglobsoutstud.5.1.0005

ScienceOpen: research and publishing network

For Publishers

For Researchers

Blog
About

Search
Advanced search

711

views

recommends

If you have found this article useful and you think it is important that researchers across the world have access, please consider donating, to ensure that this valuable collection remains Open Access.

Zanj is published by Pluto Journals, an Open AcZcess publisher. This means that everyone has free and unlimited access to the full-text of all articles from our international collection of social science journals. Furthermore Pluto Journals authors don’t pay article processing charges (APCs).

scite_

Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies

Volume 5, Issue 1/2

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Beyond Economics : The Role of Socio-political Factors in Hadiya Migration to South Africa

Published

Author(s): Dereje Feyissa ¹ ^,

Publication date (Electronic): 14 June 2022

Journal: Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies

Keywords: Global South, migration, South Africa, Ethiopia, Hadiya, development studies, economic development , cultural studies, socio-political, inequality

Bookmark

Abstract

Migration processes are often explained in economic terms both at the level of aspiration and capability. This is reflected in the claim that people migrate because of an absolute or relative deprivation and that who migrates depends on who can afford to cover the cost of migration. Economic factors certainly play an important role in why people migrate, however the fixation on economic factors has come with a reality cost to the extent that the non-economic factors in migration processes are not given the attention they deserve. This contribution seeks to fill this gap. It examines socio-political factors in migration processes and the various forms of inequality they take through a case study of Hadiya migration to South Africa. Specifically, mobility norms, spirituality of migration and sociopolitical networks are examined to explain why there is a geographic concentration in the place of origin of Ethiopian migrants in South Africa. While Hadiya mobility norms construe their migration to South Africa as part of the natural order of things, an overarching spiritual frame of reference represents migration as an enactment of a divine script: a prophecy fulfilled. Unequal access to political and social networks on the other hand have partly determined who migrates. While political networks are mobilized to leverage migration to redress historically shaped regional inequality, social networks are crucial in building capability and easing the process of adaptation in places of destination which further engender increased migration from places of origin.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Title: Zanj: The Journal of Critical Global South Studies

ISSN: 2515-2149

Publication date (Electronic): 14 June 2022

Volume: 5

Issue: 1/2

Pages: 35-58

Affiliations

[1 ] Peace and Development Centre, Addis Ababa

Article

DOI: 10.13169/zanjglobsoutstud.5.1.0005

SO-VID: 4ce2b00a-adee-4964-a87f-26779a0156a4

License:

Published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International ( CC BY 4.0). Users are allowed to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially), as long as the authors and the publisher are explicitly identified and properly acknowledged as the original source.

History

Data availability: Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

ScienceOpen disciplines: Economic development,Political science,General social science,Development studies,Urban, Rural & Regional economics,Cultural studies

Keywords: Global South,migration,South Africa,Ethiopia,Hadiya,development studies,economic development ,cultural studies,socio-political,inequality

References

Castles Stephen. Understanding Global Migration: A Social Transformation Perspective. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 36(10):1565–1586. 2010. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]
Choldin Harvey M.. Kinship Networks in the Migration Process. International Migration Review. Vol. 7(2)1973. JSTOR. [Cross Ref]
Cohen Jeffrey H., Sirkeci Ibrahim. Cultures of Migration. 2011. University of Texas Press. [Cross Ref]
de Haas Hein. A theory of migration: the aspirations-capabilities framework. Comparative Migration Studies. Vol. 9(1)2021. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. [Cross Ref]
de Haas Hein. The Internal Dynamics of Migration Processes: A Theoretical Inquiry. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 36(10):1587–1617. 2010. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]
de Regt Marina, Tafesse Medareshaw. Deported before experiencing the good sides of migration: Ethiopians returning from Saudi Arabia. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal. Vol. 9(2):228–242. 2016. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]
Adugna Girmachew. Migration patterns and emigrants’ transnational activities: comparative findings from two migrant origin areas in Ethiopia. Comparative Migration Studies. Vol. 7(1)2019. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. [Cross Ref]
Hammond Laura, Maxwell Daniel. The Ethiopian Crisis of 1999-2000: Lessons Learned, Questions Unanswered. Disasters. Vol. 26(3):262–279. 2002. Wiley. [Cross Ref]
Kefale Asnake, Mohammed Zerihun. Ethiopian Labour Migration to the Gulf and South Africa. 2016. Forum for Social Studies. [Cross Ref]
Kloos Helmut, Aynalem Adugna. Settler migration during the 1984/85 resettlement programme in Ethiopia. GeoJournal. Vol. 19(2)1989. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. [Cross Ref]
Massey Douglas S., Arango Joaquin, Hugo Graeme, Kouaouci Ali, Pellegrino Adela, Taylor J. Edward. Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal. Population and Development Review. Vol. 19(3)1993. JSTOR. [Cross Ref]
Liang Zai, Song Qian. From the Culture of Migration to the Culture of Remittances: Evidence from Immigrant-Sending Communities in China. Chinese Sociological Review. Vol. 50(2):163–187. 2018. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]
Negash Girma. The rise and rise of agricultural wage labour: evidence from Ethiopia's south, <i>c</i>.1950–2000. Africa. Vol. 87(1):36–52. 2017. Cambridge University Press (CUP). [Cross Ref]
Tronvoll Kjetil. Voting, violence and violations: peasant voices on the flawed elections in Hadiya, Southern Ethiopia. The Journal of Modern African Studies. Vol. 39(4):697–716. 2001. Cambridge University Press (CUP). [Cross Ref]
Lambore Gemecho Tsedeke. Logistic Mixed Modelling of Determinants of International Migration from the Southern Ethiopia: Small Area Estimation Approach. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics. Vol. 6(3)2017. Science Publishing Group. [Cross Ref]
Zack Tanya, Estifanos Yordanos Seifu. Somewhere else: social connection and dislocation of Ethiopian migrants in Johannesburg. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal. Vol. 9(2):149–165. 2016. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Castles Stephen. Understanding Global Migration: A Social Transformation Perspective. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 36(10):1565–1586. 2010. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[2] Choldin Harvey M.. Kinship Networks in the Migration Process. International Migration Review. Vol. 7(2)1973. JSTOR. [Cross Ref]

[3] Cohen Jeffrey H., Sirkeci Ibrahim. Cultures of Migration. 2011. University of Texas Press. [Cross Ref]

[4] de Haas Hein. A theory of migration: the aspirations-capabilities framework. Comparative Migration Studies. Vol. 9(1)2021. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. [Cross Ref]

[5] de Haas Hein. The Internal Dynamics of Migration Processes: A Theoretical Inquiry. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Vol. 36(10):1587–1617. 2010. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[6] de Regt Marina, Tafesse Medareshaw. Deported before experiencing the good sides of migration: Ethiopians returning from Saudi Arabia. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal. Vol. 9(2):228–242. 2016. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[7] Adugna Girmachew. Migration patterns and emigrants’ transnational activities: comparative findings from two migrant origin areas in Ethiopia. Comparative Migration Studies. Vol. 7(1)2019. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. [Cross Ref]

[8] Hammond Laura, Maxwell Daniel. The Ethiopian Crisis of 1999-2000: Lessons Learned, Questions Unanswered. Disasters. Vol. 26(3):262–279. 2002. Wiley. [Cross Ref]

[9] Kefale Asnake, Mohammed Zerihun. Ethiopian Labour Migration to the Gulf and South Africa. 2016. Forum for Social Studies. [Cross Ref]

[10] Kloos Helmut, Aynalem Adugna. Settler migration during the 1984/85 resettlement programme in Ethiopia. GeoJournal. Vol. 19(2)1989. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. [Cross Ref]

[11] Massey Douglas S., Arango Joaquin, Hugo Graeme, Kouaouci Ali, Pellegrino Adela, Taylor J. Edward. Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal. Population and Development Review. Vol. 19(3)1993. JSTOR. [Cross Ref]

[12] Liang Zai, Song Qian. From the Culture of Migration to the Culture of Remittances: Evidence from Immigrant-Sending Communities in China. Chinese Sociological Review. Vol. 50(2):163–187. 2018. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]

[13] Negash Girma. The rise and rise of agricultural wage labour: evidence from Ethiopia's south, <i>c</i>.1950–2000. Africa. Vol. 87(1):36–52. 2017. Cambridge University Press (CUP). [Cross Ref]

[14] Tronvoll Kjetil. Voting, violence and violations: peasant voices on the flawed elections in Hadiya, Southern Ethiopia. The Journal of Modern African Studies. Vol. 39(4):697–716. 2001. Cambridge University Press (CUP). [Cross Ref]

[15] Lambore Gemecho Tsedeke. Logistic Mixed Modelling of Determinants of International Migration from the Southern Ethiopia: Small Area Estimation Approach. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics. Vol. 6(3)2017. Science Publishing Group. [Cross Ref]

[16] Zack Tanya, Estifanos Yordanos Seifu. Somewhere else: social connection and dislocation of Ethiopian migrants in Johannesburg. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal. Vol. 9(2):149–165. 2016. Informa UK Limited. [Cross Ref]