human mobility and namibian family transformation: an analysis of socio-economic development ...

328 Pages·2017·2.73 MB·English

HUMAN MOBILITY AND NAMIBIAN FAMILY TRANSFORMATION: AN
ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY-
MIGRANT CONNECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY NAMIBIA

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT
OF THE REQUIRMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN SOCIOLOGY
OF

THE UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA

BY

BRUNO VENDITTO

201312301

APRIL 2018

MAIN SUPERVISOR: DR. THOMAS FOX
CO-SUPERVISOR: DR. ARTWELL NHEMACHENA
i
Abstract
The dissertation attempts to present migration from a holistic perspective where ht e
decision to move is the result of an assessment of competing strategies open to
potential migrants. This is a bid by globally marginalised populations for economic
security; a deliberate decision taken by the family to improve their livelihood.
Migrants are here seen as social actors, or agents, who confront structural socio-
economic contexts, which offer both constraints and opportunities. The migrants’
reflexive rational assessment of such limiting and enabling structures determines the
decision-making process, and the subsequent behavioural outcomes. Namibia is
currently experiencing a high level of unemployment and underemployment across
large portions of its population, and hence levels of poverty and inequality remain
high, 26 years after independence from South Africa. Migrants now seek lifestyles,
work, income, welfare benefits, and the chance to aid family networks back home
through the strategic axial advantage of the remittance system. This thesis critically
utilised the structuration and agency theory as a contextual and conceptual means to
make sense of Namibian migration, while at the same time focusing on the way in
which both financial and social remittances can modify the socio-economic status of
the migrants’ families, providing empirical evidence from Namibia on the role that
migration can have on local development. The epistemological design used
emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach, which combines economic and
sociological paradigms, to investigate the impact of internal migration on
transforming the socio-economic structure of the Namibian family. These
considerations were instrumental in the choice of Charmaz’s (2006, 2014),
constructivist grounded theory version for the study. Using the grounded theory
approach allowed the participants to express their own experiences related to the
ii
decision to migrate and to present their perspective on the consequences of such a
decision, while at the same time giving the participants and the researcher, the
possibility of reflexively investigating on it. Internal migration appears to be a mix of
specific coping strategies put in place by the family to face the socio-economic
adversities, combined with the migrants’ personal motivations. The research found
that individual aspiration to materially progress in life goes beyond mere economic
gratification. The moral sentiment of the migrant, out of a sense of responsibility for
the family, and concern for the community (or country), is linked with the
gratification and respect received by their family members, community and friends.
Shifting the emphasis to the migrants’ personal motivations, as suggested in the
thesis, provides an unconventional explanation of the drivers of migration compared
to the one presented by mainstream migration theories and doctrine. This research’s
approach was found to provide a phenomenologically more meaningful and
comprehensive understanding of the complexities (personal, familial, and
community) of the migration challenges facing Namibians.
.

iii
List of Publications/Conferences proceedings arising from this PhD
2017 - Water, migration and environment in a Mediterranean perspective.
International Journal of Migration and Residential Mobility, InterScience
Publisher. (In press). Retrievable at
http://www.inderscience.com/info/ingeneral/forthcoming.php?jcode=ijmrm

2014 -The Challenge of Food Security in the Euro Mediterranean Area, Discourse
Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences, 2(2), 39-52. Retrievable at
www.resjournals.org/JAFS. ISSN: 2346-7002, (in collaboration with Caruso,
I & Noviello, V.).

2013 -Human mobility: Migration from a European and African viewpoint. Bruno,
G. C., Caruso, I., & Venditto, B. (Eds.), Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino. ISBN
978-88-498-4068-1.

-Introduction. In G. C., Bruno I, Caruso, & B., Venditto (Eds.), Human
Mobility: Migration from a European and African Viewpoint (pp. i-x).
Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino. ISBN: 978-88-498-4068-1.

-African Migration: the case of Western Africa. G. C., Bruno, I, Caruso, & B.,
Venditto (Eds.), Human Mobility: Migration from a European and African
Viewpoint (pp. 233-253). Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino. ISBN 978-88-498-
4068-1, (in collaboration with Caruso, I.).

2012 -The Mediterranean’s future. Preliminary study on environmental refugees. In
M., A., Valleri, R., Pace, & S. Girone (Eds.), Il Mediterraneo: uno studio e
una passione. Scritti in onore di Luigi Di Comite (pp. 251-269). Bari:
Cacucci Ed. ISBN 978-88-661-1165-8 (published in Italian in collaboration
with Caruso, I.).

iv
Table of Contents
Abstract ii
List of Publications/Conferences proceedings arising from this PhD .................. iv
Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... v
List of Tables ........................................................................................................... viii
List of Figures ............................................................................................................ ix
List of Graphs ............................................................................................................. x
List of Boxes ............................................................................................................... xi
List of Abbreviations and/or Acronyms ................................................................. xii
Acknowledgments ................................................................................................... xiii
Dedication xiv
Declaration xv
Chapter 1 The purpose and nature of the research ............................................. 1
1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1
1.2 An overview of the migration phenomenon ........................................................... 5
1.3 Conceptual framework of the study ....................................................................... 8
1.3.1 Beyond the economic models of migration ........................................................ 10
1.3.2 The migrants’ sense of belonging ...................................................................... 12
1.4 The meaning of development and the nexus migration – development ............ 14
1.5 The relevance of the study to the Namibian context ........................................... 18
1.6 The research questions .......................................................................................... 20
1.7 General methodology ............................................................................................. 23
1.7.1 The research methods ........................................................................................ 23
1.8 Organization of the thesis ...................................................................................... 24
1.9 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 25
Chapter 2. Literature Review: The study conceptual and theoretical basi .s... 26
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 26
2.2 A methodological debate over the literature review ........................................... 27
2.2.1 The literature review in the grounded theory approach .................................... 27
2.3 The thesis intellectual paradigms ......................................................................... 31
2.3.1 The development conceptual paradigm ............................................................. 31
2.3.2 The development debate: the 50s – 60s period .................................................. 34
2.3.3 The development debate: the 70s period ........................................................... 35
2.3.4 The development debate: the 80s and the Washington consensus ..................... 38
2.3.5 The development debate: from the capability to the participation approach .... 40
2.4 The Migration debate ............................................................................................ 43
2.4.1 The spatial context: Internal vs. international migration .................................. 45
2.4.2 The spatial context: Internal leading to international migration ...................... 47
2.4.3 The determinants of migration: Economic and sociological theories ............... 49
2.4.4 A socio-economic approach to the migration movements ................................. 54
2.5 The concept of family/household .......................................................................... 60
2.5.1 The nuclear family ............................................................................................. 60
2.5.2 The extended family and the household ............................................................. 62
2.6 The concept of remittances ..................................................................................... 66
2.6.1 Economic remittances ........................................................................................ 67
v
2.6.2 The importance of economic remittances in Africa ........................................... 71
2.6.3 The social concept of remittances ...................................................................... 76
2.6.4 Social remittances: Findings from contemporary studies ................................. 78
2.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 81
Chapter 3 The migrants stocks .......................................................................... 84
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 84
3.1.1 Internal and international migration ................................................................. 85
3.1.2 Internal and international migrants in Namibia ................................................ 90
3.2 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 99
Chapter 4. Methodology ................................................................................... 100
4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 100
4.2 The choice of the grounded theory methodology .............................................. 103
4.2.1 Which grounded theory to use? ....................................................................... 104
4.2.2 The classical grounded theory ......................................................................... 105
4.2.3 The Straussian grounded theory ...................................................................... 108
4.2.4 The feminist grounded theory .......................................................................... 110
4.3 The constructivist grounded theory ................................................................... 111
4.3.1 Limitation of constructivist grounded theory ................................................... 114
4.4 The investigation context ..................................................................................... 115
4.4.1 Gathering data ................................................................................................. 116
4.4.2 Quantitative sampling of internal migrants ..................................................... 116
4.4.3 Qualitative sampling of internal migrants ....................................................... 119
4.4.4 Interviewing internal migrants ........................................................................ 122
4.4.5 Coding .............................................................................................................. 124
4.4.6 Memoing .......................................................................................................... 125
4.4.7 Elaboration of the theory ................................................................................. 127
4.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 128
Chapter 5 A descriptive analysis of the Namibian internal migration .......... 129
5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 129
5.2 The quantitative findings ..................................................................................... 130
5.2.1 Migrants’ characteristics and geographical location ..................................... 130
5.2.2 Structure of the family/household in the village .............................................. 132
5.2.3 Personal migration history .............................................................................. 132
5.2.4 Remittances ...................................................................................................... 133
5.2.5 Family’s role .................................................................................................... 135
5.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 136
Chapter 6 Achieving migration goals .............................................................. .138
6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 138
6.1.1 Advancing educational level vs. getting a job: A false dichotomy .................. 139
6.1.2 The migrant’s growing process: Facing the obstacles .................................... 152
6.1.3 The migrant’s growing process: The narrative construction of the self .......... 165
6.2 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 174
Chapter 7 Creating opportunities .................................................................... 176
7.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 176
7.1.1 Being responsible ............................................................................................. 177
7.1.2 The remittances’ developmental effect ............................................................. 182
7.2 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 196
Chapter 8 Changing status ............................................................................... 199
8.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 199
8.1.1 The changes in the migrant - family connexion's ............................................. 200
8.1.2 The inter family conflicts ................................................................................. 206
vi
8.1.3 The migrant - community developmental transformation ................................ 210
8.1.4 The migrant - community social transformations ............................................ 216
8.2 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 223
Chapter 9 Conclusion and Reccommendations ............................................... 225
9.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 225
9.2 Constituting a grounded theory of internal migration in Namibia ................. 225
9.2.1 Drivers to migrate ............................................................................................ 228
9.2.2 Remittances ...................................................................................................... 230
9.2.3 Social impact of migration ............................................................................... 233
9.3 Conclusion: Dependent Separatnesss ................................................................. 235
9.4 Reccommendations .............................................................................................. 239
References ….. ..................................................................................................... 243
Appendixes .. ........................................................................................................... 295
1 Ethical Clearance ..................................................................................................... 295
2 Permission to Undertake Fieldwork Research ..................................................... 296
3 Face-to-Face interview ............................................................................................ 297
3.1 Participants’ biographies .................................................................................... 297
3.2 Migrant’s Households description ...................................................................... 299
4 Consent Letter ......................................................................................................... 301
5 Quantitative-Qualitative Questionnaire ................................................................ 302
6 Qualitative Questionnaire ....................................................................................... 305
7 Questions to participants to the face-to-face interview: ...................................... 307
8 Questions to family members taking part to the face-to-face interview: ........... 309
9 Statistical Appendix ................................................................................................. 310

vii
List of Tables
Table 1 World Economic Remittances 1980-2015 in billions of US$ 68
Table 2 Remittance inflows (US$ billion) period 2000-2015 in developing
and developed countries 69

Table 3 Migrant remittance inflows (US$ billion) period 2000-2015 72
Table 4 - International migrant stock at mid-year by major area, 1990-2015 89
Table 5 Internal migrants in Namibia- 2011 94
Table 6 Urbanisation, period 1991-2011 95
Table 7 Namibia Population and Urban growth- 2001-2011 96
Table 8 Net Migration 2015 98
Table 9 Area of destination of Namibian’sm igrants 2015 98
Table 10 Gender Composition 130
Table 11 Ethnic Group 131
Table 12 Reasons to move 133
Table 13 Main sources family income 133
Table 14 Sending remittances (money) home 134
Table 15 Additional assistance 134
Table 16 Use of remittances 135
Table 17 Determining category 1: Achieving migration goals 138
Table 18 Determining category 2: Creating opportunities 176
Table 19 Determining category 3: Gaining status 199
Table 20 The emergence of the theory 228

viii
List of Figures
Figure 1 Migration movements 47
Figure 2 Internal migrants 86
Figure 3 The concrete fence 184
Figure 4 The tractor 187
Figure 5 The house improvement 190
Figure 6 The renovated house with the satellite dish 192

ix
List of Graphs
Graph 1 Migrant economic remittances and financial flows to
developing economies, 1970-2013 ($ millions) 70

x