New publication

Circular migration in Zimbabwe and contemporary sub-Saharan Africa, by Deborah Potts. Oxford, James Currey. 2010.
 
This book is about African cities, the livelihoods of their residents, and the increased significance for both of circular migration and rural-urban linkages.

Circular migration, whereby rural migrants do not remain permanently in town, has particular significance in the academic literature on development and urbanization in Africa, often having negative connotations in southern Africanist studies due to its links with an iniquitous migrant labour system. Literature on other African regions often views circular migration more positively. This book reviews the current evidence about circular migration and urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa. The author challenges the dominant view that rural-urban migration continues unabated and shows that circular migration has continued and adapted, with faster out-migration in the face of declining urban economic opportunities.

The empirical core of this book illustrates these trends through a detailed examination of the case of Zimbabwe based on the author’s longstanding research on Harare. The political and economic changes in Zimbabwe since the 1980s transformed Harare from one of the best African cities to live in over this period to one of the worst. Harare citizens’ livelihoods exemplify, in microcosm, the central theme of the book: the reinvention of circulation and rural-urban links in response to economic change.
 
Contents: Introduction: re-inventing the wheel – Regional paradigms & approaches to circular migration: tropical Africa – Regional paradigms & approaches to circular migration: southern Africa – Harare & Zimbabwe: from formal city to outsourced urban livelihoods – Migrant livelihoods & migration trajectories in Harare: 1980s to 2000s – Harare migrants’ rural links & assets – Variations in migrants’ experience, perceptions & options – Social & cultural attachments to rural settings & homes – Attacking the urban poor & abusing rural links: Operation Murambatsvina 2005 – Conclusion
 
Cover photograph: Residents of Mbare High Density Area in Harare made homeless by Operation Murambatsvina in 2005 (© Institute of War and Peace Reporting)
 
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