Browsing by Author "Koskimaki, Leah"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
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    An analysis of the role of remittances in achieving sustainable development goals in Nkanu east local government area of Enugu state, Nigeria
    (University of the Western Cape, 2021) Mbadugha, Peace Amaka; Koskimaki, Leah
    Over the years there has been a tremendous increase in migration because of its benefit to migrants and to their places of origin, particularly in view of the impact of remittances on development. This study analysed the potential impact of remittances in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with focus on SDG 4 and 10 in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview among 25 participants with 15 of them being remittance recipients (beneficiaries) and 10 participants who are the remittance senders (facilitators). This research adopted a qualitative research design which made use of data collected from primary sources gathered by the researcher and secondary data from articles, libraries, reports, and book chapters. This study was largely analysed based on literature and theories regarding transnationalism and social capital.
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    Assessing the migration-development nexus in the Buea community of Cameroon: A study of the social impact of remittances
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Fuh, Salome Mankaah; Koskimaki, Leah
    The inflow of migrant remittances has been an increasing source of financial support to recipients in low and middle-income countries, often through informal channels. Remittances have been viewed as beneficial to migrant families to assist with quality education, health, basic food needs, and to establish developmental projects like building of residences for university students, and hence creating employment. However, remittances provide more than economic and material gains. This thesis brings into light social aspects of remittances such as networking, moral obligations, prestige, promoting and maintaining kinship ties, and altruism, with a critical look at the development concept of wellbeing. Specifically drawing from a case study of Cameroonian migrants living in Cape Town, South Africa and relatives and remittance recipients in the Buea municipality in the South West region of Cameroon, this study has assessed the migrationdevelopment nexus with an emphasis on the social impact of remittances.
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    Introduction: reconsidering the region in India: mobilities, actors and development politics
    (SAGE Publications, 2017) Koskimaki, Leah; Upadhya, Carol
    In this introduction to a special issue on ‘Reconsidering the Region in India’, we aim to develop a synthetic and theoretically nuanced account of the multifarious ways in which the idea of region has been imbricated in diverse spatial, political, cultural and socio-economic configurations. We draw from various bodies of anthropological, geographic and historical literature to elaborate on three themes that we believe are central to understanding contemporary processes of region-making in India: trans-regional mobilities and connections; the actors who produce and perform regional imaginaries; and changing regional politics of development.
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    An investigation of the vulnerabilities of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in Cape Town during the Covid-19 pandemic
    (University of the Western Cape, 2023) Thom, Ngonidzashe Frackson; Koskimaki, Leah
    The COVID-19 epidemic has been a devastating global health catastrophe, and the ensuing lockdowns and limitations have exacerbated numerous inequities along racial, ethnic, class, and gender lines. Recent studies have shown that undocumented migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers have been further affected, due to policy responses that mostly exclude them from targeted COVID-19 mitigation efforts aimed toward citizen support. As the South African government has provided some measures to ameliorate the negative economic and social impacts of the pandemic and lockdown on its population, undocumented Zimbabwean migrants on temporary contracts in sectors such as construction, tourism and hospitality have been continuously placed on leave, have reduced hours or have altogether lost their jobs. However, most have not been eligible for government social benefits that have been put in place to mitigate against the negative economic impacts of the pandemic.
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    Making life liveable in an informal market Infrastructures of friendship amongst migrant street traders in Durban, South Africa
    (Berghahn Journals, 2023) Mbatha, Nomkhosi; Koskimaki, Leah
    African migrants working in street trading business in Durban, South Africa oft en face xenophobia and must navigate policies regulating the informal economy. However, they sustain livelihoods in urban markets through building friendships while maintaining transnational connections back home. Based on qualitative research conducted in 2019 and 2021 with thirty street traders from Senegal, The Gambia, Nigeria, and Malawi at the Workshop Flea Market in Durban, the article interrogates the way in which friendship and conviviality emerge in informal market spaces. Building on AbdouMaliq Simone’s concept of “people as infrastructure,” we show how migrant street traders in the Workshop Market invest in the urban collective, while locally and transnationally connected through economic and aff ective exchanges.
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    Migration and hospitality in Cape Town: A case of Zimbabwean migrants and refugees
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Mazani, Perfect; Koskimaki, Leah
    Many studies on migrants and refugees have been undertaken in South Africa, with an emphasis on issues that have a detrimental impact on migrants and refugees in the country, such as xenophobic events, low wages, food poverty, and social and economic isolation. However, this study takes a different approach, examining the scope of what could be happening in terms of solidarity and hospitality for migrants and refugees in religious spaces in urban areas where they reside. This study used a qualitative research approach using data obtained from primary sources gathered by the researcher as well as secondary material from journals, libraries, reports, and book chapters. The case study area was Joe Slovo township in Cape Town. Data were obtained in phases, with the researcher focusing on semi-structured interviews with 10 migrants and refugees.
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    Negotiating urban informality: narratives of politics and mobility in an informal settlement in Cape Town, South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Ndwayi, Siyasanga; Koskimaki, Leah
    Recent work on ‘urban informality’- forms of urbanisation such as the growth of settlements outside the confines of the state and its policies- have begun to emphasise the politics and everyday negotiations of those living in these marginalised spaces. In South Africa, the creation of and the politics around such informal settlements have been largely shaped by the colonial history and legacies of spatial inequalities and racial segregation. This research examined the politics of im/mobility in a particular settlement in Cape Town, called Siqalo in Mitchells Plain. Through qualitative methods including open ended interviews with community leaders and activists in Siqalo, the thesis offers insights of how a group of activists and residents negotiate everyday challenges. It shows how being viewed as “encroachers” shapes their political and social life in the city and examines how a politics of belonging mediates their access to services and better livelihoods. Overall, taking decolonisation as a lens through which to study mobility, the thesis shows how informality and mobility are linked in contemporary South Africa.
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    The role of street trading in sustaining livelihoods: A case of migrant street traders in Durban, South Africa.
    (University of the Western Cape, 2020) Mbatha, Nomkhosi Amanda; Koskimaki, Leah
    The informal economy in South Africa has been associated with a lack of growth, and it is believed that people would pursue businesses in this sector to overcome the cicumstances of poverty. Street trading, which is the most visible sector of the informal economy, has been blamed for urban decay and the negative impact it has on the urbanisation of different cities across South Africa. Such views have contributed to the challenges of street traders and have affected how they make a living. Street trading is a growing phenomenon in the Central Businesses Districts (CBDs) where many are people dependent on the practice of street trading for livelihoods. This study sought to understand the contribution made by the street trading enterprises in sustaining migrant street trader livelihoods and well-being in Durban. The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) was applied as a conceptual framework to investigate the degree to which migrant street traders can improve their well-being and cope with the vulnerability context. The core elements of the SLF connect for migrant street traders to achieve desired livelihood outcomes. Using a case study research approach, the study sampled 12 migrant street traders for semi-structured interviews and 30 migrant street traders for the questionnaire. The study involved migrant street traders who sell clothing apparel at the Workshop flea market in the Durban CBD. The study applied a sequential mixed-method approach for data collection and data analysis. Empirical findings on quantitative data provided an insight into the different types of migrant street traders enterprises and the factors that propel migrant street traders to start street trading enterprises. Qualitative data provided insight that may not have been obtained by quantitative methods. Qualitative empirical finding’s inception point is the migration aspirations and opportunities of migrant street traders. The data highlights the role of networks in facilitating the migration process and providing support. Whilst the vulnerability context continuously poses major challenges for migrant street traders, the capital stocks from which migrant street traders draw from are crucial to deal with the shocks, seasonality, trends, and other challenges. Findings indicated the capitals enable migrant street traders to achieve a better life that they have reason to value, extend their capabilities, enhance well-being, and most of all achieve desired livelihood outcomes. The study revealed that social capital and human capital are crucial for sustaining livelihoods. Evidence from the study further revealed that street trading and the livelihoods of migrant street traders were highly dependent on the city they had chosen as their destination point when leaving the country of origin. Therefore, traders migrated toDurban not only for economic reasons but also for its geographic location and liveability. Although street trading operates in the vulnerability context, evidence from the study points to ways in which aspects of street trading in Durban may contribute to sustainable livelihoods and the enhanced well-being of migrants.
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    Seeking a dignified life: An exploration of the aspirations and experiences of women refugees in Cape Town, South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2023) Frank, Lenishia; Koskimaki, Leah
    This study documented the experiences of a group of refugee women during the COVID-19 lockdown in Cape Town, South Africa. In late 2019, the women participated in a sit-in protest with a large group of refugees in the central business district in Cape Town against the xenophobic attacks and social injustices they have experienced with South Africa. During the protest the group of refugees gathered outside in the Waldorf Arcade near Greenmarket Square. On the 26 March 2020, after the nationwide lockdown to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19, the City of Cape Town forcibly moved many of the refugee protesters and families to a camp site situated at Wingfield in Goodwood. This research documents narratives of the women’s experiences, emotional trauma, and day to day life while they were settled in the temporary Wingfield Camp.
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    Youth futures and a masculine development ethos in the regional story of Uttarakhand
    (SAGE Publications, 2017) Koskimaki, Leah
    Research on the Uttarakhand region, which became a new state in 2000, has focused largely on agrarian livelihoods, religious rituals, development demands, ecological politics and the role of women in regional social movements. This essay discusses another dimension of the regional imaginary—that of a masculine development ethos. Based on ethnographic research and print media sources, this essay focuses on stories, politics, mobilities and imaginations of young men in the years immediately after the achievement of statehood. Despite increased outmigration of youth in search of employment, many young men expressed the dream of maintaining livelihoods in the familiar towns and rural spaces of Uttarakhand, describing their home region as a source of power and agency. In rallies and in print media, young (mostly upper caste) men expressed their disillusionment with the government and the promises of statehood, arguing that their aspirations for development and employment were left unfulfilled. Gendered stories of the region, told in Hindi in rallies and print media, contained references to local places, people and historical events and were produced through local connections and know-how, fostering a regional youth politics. The article argues that Uttarakhand as a region is shaped by the politics of local actors as well as embodied forms of aspiration, affiliation and mobility.