African Centre for Migration and Society

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Start date: 2009End date: 2009

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    "Burying our dead in your city": interpreting individual constructs of belonging in the context of burial of loved ones in exile.
    (2009-09-09T09:11:36Z) Ayiera, Eva A. Maina
    ABSTRACT Globalization and an exponential increase in cross-border migration have led to a redefining of belonging and membership. It is argued that the question of belonging is no longer a question of residential geography and ties to location, but one that is constructed in light of a decline of the meaning of fixed place in an ever more globalized world. Globalization has facilitated a rise of alternatives to place-bound identity. Yet, when refugees face the experiences of death and burial of loved ones in exile, they seem to cling to fixed place as the base for asserting their identity and where they belong while in exile. Although where one is buried is important in many African communities, burying loved ones on foreign land does not generate rather a new sense of connection to the foreign land. Instead, refugees repudiate ties to this soil and consciously invoke references to their homeland and geographical locations in describing where they belong. This paper presents a discussion of the concepts of belonging and place in the context of compelling experiences of death and burial in exile for refugees in a globalized world.
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    Balancing opportunity and conflict: the impact of a refugee influx on the decentralisation process
    (2009-04-15T11:21:44Z) Blaser, Caitlin
    Abstract This study explores the impact a refugee influx has on the decentralisation process. It uses the case study of Loulouni, southern Mali, in 2005-2006, where a camp for Ivorian refugees was established. Using mixed methods including a large survey and many in depth interviews, this study has found that the refugee influx has had a profound and transformatory impact on decentralisation at the local level. In Mali, the decentralisation effort is closely tied to the promotion of participatory democracy in the country, and the refugee presence has further promoted interaction between citizens and local government officials. However, the arrival of resources in the form of humanitarian aid has also caused conflict between upwardly and downwardly accountable local government authorities, which threaten a complete transfer or powers.
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    Challenges in organising informal workers : a study of gendered home-based care work in post-apartheid South Africa.
    (2009-03-02T07:48:51Z) Munakamwe, Janet
    The purpose of the current study was to determine the constraints to and opportunities for organising the gendered home-based care sector in post apartheid South Africa. Also the gender aspect of care work has been closely examined and the study has revealed that societal stereotypes that view care work as women work in the private sphere have to a greater extent contributed to the devaluation of care work in both society and as a form of paid care work. Qualitative research methodology was used in the form of documentary analysis, interviews and participant observation. The research findings demonstrate that unions themselves, resources and legislation/ policy issues pose as major barriers to organising these atypical workers. Generally, most unions are not yet ready to embrace informal workers into the mainstream as it entails innovation of new organising strategies that could be out of their comfort zone, the pumping out of a vast amount of resources and the avoidance of the huge obligation of breaking through legal barriers. Grassroot mobilising around gender needs has been proposed as the most appropriate strategy for organising the newly emerging mobile and precarious workforce which comprises principally of women. An undeniable link between the formal and informal economy has also been confirmed as formal institutions such as NGOs, hospital, clinics and private companies through the Expanded Public Works Programme here in South Africa make use of informal labour to execute their obligations in the HBC sector. From a gender perspective, this study argues that female jobs are despised by society let alone trade unions where democracy and gender sensitivity should be practiced. Devaluation of female jobs herein care work could be the reason why NEHAWU has taken too long to organise the HBC sector. Finally, results of the study have demistified the societal stereotypes that female jobs are difficult to organise as HBC workers were more than willing to join NEHAWU.