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Bush Bound: Young Men and Rural Permanence in Migrant West Africa
Whereas most studies of migration focus on movement, this book examines the experience of staying put. It looks at young men living in a Soninke-speaking village in Gambia who, although eager to travel abroad for money and experience, settle as farmers, heads of families, businessmen, civic activists, or, alternatively, as unemployed, demoted youth. Those who stay do so not only because of financial and legal limitations, but also because of pressures to maintain family and social bases in the Gambia valley. ‘Stayers’ thus enable migrants to migrate, while ensuring the activities and values attached to rural life are passed on to the future generations.
232 pages, Library Binding
Published August 1, 2015
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June 12, 2025
Much migration, even international, is some degree of rural to urban (the categories of rural and urban are not all together that useful). I really like the way that instead of studying migration Gaibazzi looks at non-migration in an agrarian area from which many migrants leave. In doing this he is able to show how agrarian histories shape migration and non-migration. My research has increasingly moved towards the intersection of agrarian studies and migration and as such I found this book very interesting.
Gaibazzi is interested in cultures of migration and their effect on people who stay or are unable to find an opportunity to leave. This leads to cultures of grifting and sitting, where people try to find renumerative opportunities. Central to this is the morals and values of agriculture. He argues that from a young age men are involved in agriculture partly because it is thought to give the transferable skills that are needed to be successful in business, migration or other ventures.
I think this book is interesting and speaks to a growing ethnographic engagement with various forms of migration and agrarian society. I think this is likely to be productive as much of what is seen as environmental or climate migration is more deeply rooted in prolonged agrarian crises connected to globalization, colonialism and capitalism. So building a more sophisticated literature around the intersections of agrarian and migration studies becomes useful.
People who liked this book may also like Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States and Transnational Labour Migration, Livelihoods and Agrarian Change in Nepal.
Gaibazzi is interested in cultures of migration and their effect on people who stay or are unable to find an opportunity to leave. This leads to cultures of grifting and sitting, where people try to find renumerative opportunities. Central to this is the morals and values of agriculture. He argues that from a young age men are involved in agriculture partly because it is thought to give the transferable skills that are needed to be successful in business, migration or other ventures.
I think this book is interesting and speaks to a growing ethnographic engagement with various forms of migration and agrarian society. I think this is likely to be productive as much of what is seen as environmental or climate migration is more deeply rooted in prolonged agrarian crises connected to globalization, colonialism and capitalism. So building a more sophisticated literature around the intersections of agrarian and migration studies becomes useful.
People who liked this book may also like Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States and Transnational Labour Migration, Livelihoods and Agrarian Change in Nepal.
Displaying 1 of 1 review