Imagining a future in ‘bush’: migration aspirations at times of crisis in Anglophone Cameroon

Alpes, Maybritt Jill

doi:10.1080/1070289x.2013.831350

Cited by 37 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…The article's juxtaposed mobility managers all operate in a context where enduring economic crises and a sense of exclusion from the positive aspects of globalisation have turned migration into one of the few beacons of hope for families to change their socio-economic situation (Åkesson 2013;Alpes 2014;Carling and Åkesson 2009). Local perceptions in the region closely intertwine migration and development.…”

Section: Method: Juxtapositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is a legitimate mobility manager? Juxtaposing migration brokers with the EU

Åkesson

Alpes

2018

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

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This article juxtaposes two types of actors who offer migration services: a state-managed EU programme in Cape Verde and two Cameroonian development NGOs run by businessmen. By framing both as managers of mobility, the article contributes to debates on migration management and the migration industry. The article takes the paradox between official narratives and migrant experiences as a starting point to ask why and how both types of mobility managers can mobilise legitimacy. Staying clear of normative evaluations of the respective legitimacy and success of market and state actors, the article shows that both types of migration managers are involved in producing 'the legal migrant' in different ways. On the basis of ethnographic material from Cameroon (2007-2014) and Cape Verde (2010-2012), the article discusses the functioning of the two kinds of mobility managers, their relations with aspiring migrants and respective modes of self-representation. In conclusion, the article shows that despite apparent differences between migration brokers and the EU, the article's mobility managers share the use of 'development' as a trope for legitimising their activities.

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Section: Method: Juxtapositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is a legitimate mobility manager? Juxtaposing migration brokers with the EU

Åkesson

Alpes

2018

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

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“…Alpes defines hustling as ‘working hard and accepting any possible type of work, or means of support’ (Alpes, : 263–264). Ho (), in her study of migration trajectories of ‘highly skilled’ Singaporean transmigrants in London, identifies a category of migrants whom she calls ‘accidental navigators’, who prolong their stay in the UK through chance strategies.…”

Section: Encountering and Managing Chancementioning

confidence: 99%

Theorising Chance: Capturing the Role of Ad Hoc Social Interactions in Migrants' Trajectories

Gladkova

Mazzucato

2015

Population Space and Place

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When collecting migrants' life stories, researchers often report on the role of chance encounters in influencing the way migration trajectories have taken shape or how migrants have managed their lives in a new country. Aside from reporting on such encounters, however, there have been no explicit efforts to theorise chance or to make it central to in‐depth analysis in migration studies. This paper aims to theorise the role of chance encounters in migrants' trajectories by drawing on insights from the psychology literature of chance encounters and life paths. Our analysis of the role of chance encounters, structured by the interplay between environmental and personal factors, suggests that how people deal with chance is an influential factor in the ways people migrate from the Global South to the Global North and manage their lives in transit. The paper makes use of evidence collected among 46 African migrants in Ukraine during 7 months of field research in 2011–2012 and reflects on the methodological implications in studying chance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…According to Fouquet the “elsewhere” is the main matrix in a societal value system that, enmeshed in a long history of extraversion, is connected to “cultures of migration” (cf. Alpes, : 8).…”

Section: Migration As Striving and Connecting To The Elsewherementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In various West African societies migration is equated to a journey to an unknown territory, e.g. called "wilderness" by the Dogon (Dougnon, 2013: 35), in parts of Burkina Faso brousse (weogo in the local language "M oor e") (Zongo, 2003: 125), and in Anglophone Cameroun "bush" (Alpes, 2012). Unknown destinations are believed to hold ready many challenges and suffering, sometimes even death (for example death in the desert or in the sea).…”

Section: Travelling To See -Longing For the "Global North"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration, masculinity and social class: Insights from Pikine, Senegal

Prothmann¹

2017

International Migration

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In the shattered economy of Dakar, many young men feel stuck in prolonged bachelorhood. Handed‐down role expectations can often not be met due to dire economic prospects. Drawing on fieldwork in Pikine, an urban area within the Dakar region of Senegal, between 2011 and 2013, this article reflects upon the relation between risk, migration, social class and masculinity. Through migration to unknown destinations and by enduring the many challenges and hardships associated with it, in the hope of eventually reaching a higher social class upon return, young men wish to fix and rewrite their masculine identities. To pursue this aim even the oddest job in Europe becomes acceptable. At home, however, many work opportunities are considered to be beneath their social class. Most male urbanites seek jobs that are rewarded with respect and authority, and often assemble their choices about pursuing certain income‐generating activities considering notions of class.

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Imagining a future in ‘bush’: migration aspirations at times of crisis in Anglophone Cameroon

Cited by 37 publications

References 28 publications

What is a legitimate mobility manager? Juxtaposing migration brokers with the EU

What is a legitimate mobility manager? Juxtaposing migration brokers with the EU

Theorising Chance: Capturing the Role of Ad Hoc Social Interactions in Migrants' Trajectories

Migration, masculinity and social class: Insights from Pikine, Senegal

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