Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.11567/met.30.2.2
Remaking Life in Transnational Urban Space: Zimbabwean Migrant Teachers in Manzini, Swaziland
Daniel Tevera
orcid.org/0000-0002-7435-005X
; Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa
Abstract
Recent academic debate on the transnationalised lives of skilled migrants from developing countries tends to provide universalizing explanations that often fail to address the underlying socio-economic contexts. This paper aims to contribute to the debate by exploring how skilled migrants in South-South diasporic situations remake their livelihood strategies and expectations as they operate in transnational spaces. The paper is based on field research involving in-depth interviews with Zimbabwean migrant teachers living in Manzini, the commercial hub of Swaziland. The study provides insights into the complicated and transnationalised adjustment strategies pursued by migrants as they grapple with challenges around inclusion and exclusion in the host country and the maintenance of a “virtual presence” in Zimbabwe, their home country through the internet, Skype, mobile phones and remittance flows.
Keywords
transnationalism; virtual presence; inclusion; exclusion; remaking xenophobia; migrants; Manzini
Hrčak ID:
130434
URI
Publication date:
29.8.2014.
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