TY - JOUR
T1 - Imagining a future in bush: migration aspirations at times of crisis in Anglophone Cameroon
AU - Alpes, M.J.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - This article addresses the migration aspirations of young, lower middle-class Cameroonians living in Anglophone Cameroon. Deportations and prevention campaigns portray the negatives of migration, yet often have little impact because they assume that migrants' aspirations are grounded in the prior success of other migrants. This research takes its lead from the question: Why aren't aspiring migrants in Cameroon discouraged by migration failure? It is based on an ethnographic fieldwork conducted between September 2007 and January 2009 in Buea (South West Cameroon). Since the late 1990s, the desire for a future 'away from home' has come to be expressed in Anglophone Cameroon by aspirations of going to 'bush'. Taking seriously people's conceptions of success and failure in places of departure, the article argues that locally voiced claims of 'global belonging' exert an important influence on migration aspirations. An understanding of deeply rooted migration desires must include an analysis of identity politics. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
AB - This article addresses the migration aspirations of young, lower middle-class Cameroonians living in Anglophone Cameroon. Deportations and prevention campaigns portray the negatives of migration, yet often have little impact because they assume that migrants' aspirations are grounded in the prior success of other migrants. This research takes its lead from the question: Why aren't aspiring migrants in Cameroon discouraged by migration failure? It is based on an ethnographic fieldwork conducted between September 2007 and January 2009 in Buea (South West Cameroon). Since the late 1990s, the desire for a future 'away from home' has come to be expressed in Anglophone Cameroon by aspirations of going to 'bush'. Taking seriously people's conceptions of success and failure in places of departure, the article argues that locally voiced claims of 'global belonging' exert an important influence on migration aspirations. An understanding of deeply rooted migration desires must include an analysis of identity politics. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
U2 - 10.1080/1070289X.2013.831350
DO - 10.1080/1070289X.2013.831350
M3 - Article
SN - 1070-289X
VL - 2013
SP - 259
EP - 274
JO - Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
JF - Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power
IS - 21 (3)
ER -