Circular Migration in Zimbabwe and Contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa

Deborah Potts

 

Synopsis

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 has adapted, with faster out-migration in the face of declining urban economic opportunities.

Review

Combines a masterly overview and re-interpretation of past writing on rural-urban migration in Africa with a rigorous scholarly research study of Zimbabwe, 1980-2010. (...) - African Affairs

Author

Deborah Potts is a Senior Lecturer in the Geography Department of King's College London. She works in the broad research field of urbanization and migration in sub-Saharan Africa.