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Connecting with home, keeping in touch: physical and virtual mobility across stretched families in sub-Saharan Africa

Porter, G.; Hampshire, K.; Abane, A.; Munthali, A.; Robson, E.; Tanle, A.; Owusu, S.; de Lannoy, A.; Bango, A.

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Authors

K. Hampshire

A. Abane

A. Munthali

E. Robson

A. Tanle

S. Owusu

A. de Lannoy

A. Bango



Abstract

There is a long history of migration among low-income families in sub-Saharan Africa, in which (usually young, often male) members leave home to seek their fortune in what are perceived to be more favourable locations. While the physical and virtual mobility practices of such stretched families are often complex and contingent, maintaining contact with distantly located close kin is frequently of crucial importance for the maintenance of emotional (and possibly material) well-being, both for those who have left home and for those who remain. This article explores the ways in which these connections are being reshaped by increasing access to mobile phones in three sub-Saharan countries – Ghana, Malawi and South Africa – drawing on interdisciplinary, mixed-methods research from twenty-four sites, ranging from poor urban neighbourhoods to remote rural hamlets. Stories collected from both ends of stretched families present a world in which the connectivities now offered by the mobile phone bring a different kind of closeness and knowing, as instant sociality introduces a potential substitute for letters, cassettes and face-to-face visits, while the rapid resource mobilization opportunities identified by those still at home impose increasing pressures on migrant kin.

Citation

Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Munthali, A., Robson, E., Tanle, A., …Bango, A. (2017). Connecting with home, keeping in touch: physical and virtual mobility across stretched families in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa, 88(2), 404-424. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0001972017000973

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 14, 2017
Online Publication Date May 24, 2018
Publication Date May 24, 2017
Deposit Date Jun 21, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Africa
Print ISSN 0001-9720
Electronic ISSN 1750-0184
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 88
Issue 2
Pages 404-424
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/s0001972017000973

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Copyright Statement
© International African Institute 2018 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.






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