Involuntary Migration And Resettlement

The Problems And Responses Of Dislocated People

Art Hansen

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367022433
• eBook ISBN: 9780429728594
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

Involuntary migration occurs when there has been, or will be, a catastrophic change in people's environment and they have little or no choice but to relocate. Causes range from natural disasters to sociopolitical upheaval (war, revolution, pogrom) and even to planned changes (dams, atomic experimentation, urban renewal). Although there are excellent studies of specific instances of forced migration, this book is the first to address the broad scope of issues and the wide variety of contexts in which migration and resettlement schemes have occurred. The authors investigate the responses of dislocated people facing dislocation and resettlement and ask specifically: What are the common stresses of dislocation and resettlement? What are the patterns of individual and group reactions and strategies as people respond to the stresses and opportunities of relocation? What significant similarities and differences exist among situations of involuntary migration and how do these pressures relate to those faced by people who move voluntarily?

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Introduction Involuntary Migration and Resettlement: Causes and Contexts

Anthony Oliver-Smith Art Hansen

This volume results from our common interest in the problems of dislocated peoples and our commitment to a comparative case study approach. We are social anthropologists who have lived among and observed the resettlement of dislocated peoples. Art Hansen has worked with rural refugees from an African war and spent some months studying Cuban refugees in the U.S.A.; Anthony Oliver-Smith has worked with victims of a disastrous South American earthquake and avalanche that obliterated the town where his informants used to live. Both the refugees and the avalanche victims had experienced uprooting and relocation and were coping with the consequent stresses and the need to adapt to new or radically changed environments. In extended conversations between us, with other faculty members, and with graduate students, all began to appreciate the extent to which the data and conclusions of each person's research complemented and enriched those of the others. Although the places and peoples were geographically and culturally distinct and the sociopolitical environments and causes of dislocation were dissimilar, there emerged a number of common concerns and processes.

In order to explore the emergent similarities in more depth and with broader ethnographic coverage, we organized a symposium on the topic of "Involuntary Migration and Resettlement: The Problems and Responses of Dislocated Peoples" for the 1976 annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Washington, D.C. Six case studies about people in East and South Africa, the Andes, and the southwestern U.S.A. examined specific instances of dislocation as the result of sociopolitical upheavals, natural disasters, or planned removals. Four discussants (Elizabeth Colson, Thayer Seudder, David Maybury-Lewis, and Michael Horowitz) analyzed the cases that were presented and compared them with their own research.

The central issues that the papers and the discussions addressed were (1) characteristics of the stresses of dislocation and resettlement, (2) patterns of individual and group reactions and strategies, (3) similarities and differences among the cases of involuntary migration, and (4) similarities and differences between, on the one hand, cases of involuntary migration and, on the other hand, cases of voluntary migration and urbanization. These issues and interests, together with the desire to present a more varied set of cases, have continued to dictate the selection and revision of articles for the present volume. Five papers from the symposium (by Art Hansen, Anthony Oliver-Smith, Brian M. du Toit, Anita Spring, and James Merryman) have been revised and included in this book, and eight more case studies have been added. Two of the original discussants (Thayer Scudder and Elizabeth Golson) have summarized the lessons from the cases and have presented some conclusions about the dynamics of resettlement.

Migration and Forced Migration

Before proceeding any further, the form of social action that is called migration needs to be defined more exactly and, within that definition, forced migration must be distinguished. For the definition of migration we rely on Mangalam (1968:8): "Migration is a relatively permanent moving away of a collectivity, called migrants, from one geographical location to another, preceded by decision-making on the part of the migrants on the basis of a hierarchically ordered set of values or valued ends and resulting in changes in the interactional system of the migrants." The "relatively permanent moving away" differentiates migration from population mobility; to be considered a migration, a movement must include a relatively permanent change of residence. This does not mean that the migrating peoples must be normally sedentary, as seasonal transhumance of nomadic peoples is considered a type of migration. The movement must be geographical, i.e., it must be a physical movement of the body through space.

Whereas the above elements are commonly included in definitions of migration, Mangalam specifically called attention to other social dimensions that are often overlooked, which is why his definition is important for social scientists. One of these dimensions is collective. Migration is not a movement of isolated individuals but a collective movement of peoples who are related, sometimes as families, communities, or nations (ethnic or political), sometimes through sharing status sets and normative orientations. Social interaction and decision making are also recognized as essential components of the total process (or set of processes) that is migration. As Mangalam noted, "Migrants have been treated largely like inanimate bodies moving through physical space and time" (1968:6). This is exemplified in a comment by Kunz (1973:131) referring to the movement of refugees as kinetic, resembling "the movement of the billiard ball: devoid of inner direction, their path is governed by kinetic factors."¹ Our view of migrants (including refugees) is quite different from that of Kunz. We agree with Mangalam that migrants are, first and foremost, people in social units who think, learn, perceive, decide, and act. Migration is one of those actions and is undertaken as a consequence of the prior learning, perceiving, and deciding that people do as individuals and in groups. At the same time, of course, migration also affects the social and cognitive worlds of the migrants, who must come to grips in some way with the consequences of their actions.

All migration implies some degree of prior relative deprivation. People decide to move away because some needs or desires are not being adequately fulfilled in their present location. Adequacy is a question of perception, and there is a balancing of perceived deprivation and the chances for remedying that in various different environments. Any type of migration, therefore, expresses a need or desire to relieve or redress some problem or failure in the present location (Wolpert 1966). Mangalam (1968:9) stated: "Thus, among other things, both the existence of a high degree of deprivation of one or more values of a collectivity and the blocking of almost all the satisfactory means normally available to the collectivity to overcome such deprivations are preconditions to a decision to migrate."

Within this general context, what we term forced migration has been distinguished by several differing sets of criteria. Petersen (1958) used psychological variables (individual power and motivation) to modify the standard push and pull opposition in migration theory. He noted (p. 258): "Some persons migrate as a means of achieving the new. Let us term such migrations innovating. Others migrate in response to a change in conditions, in order to retain what they have had; they move geographically in order to remain where they are in all other respects. Let us term such migration conservative." Petersen established five broad classes of migration: forced, impelled, primitive, free, and mass. In forced migration, migrants do not retain any "power to decide whether or not to leave" (p. 261), whereas in impelled migration, they retain some power. In both classes "the migrants are largely passive" (p. 263), their will being unimportant compared to the sociopolitical institutions that demand and direct the population movement. Petersen mentioned four types of forced and impelled migration: flight, displacement, the slave trade, and the coolie trade. The first two types parallel two of the categories of forced migrants in this book: refugees and targets of planned removals, respectively. The third category in this bookvictims of natural disaster--is mentioned neither by Petersen nor by most other theorists.² Flight and displacement are described as usually conservative movements. This assessment was endorsed by Kunz in his definition of refugees--"It is the reluctance to uproot one-self, and the absence of positive original motivations to settle elsewhere, which characterizes all refugee decisions and distinguishes the refugee from the voluntary migrants" (1973:130).

Eichenbaum (1975) used different criteria. He considered migration to be a "function of volition" (p. 22) and the migration process to incorporate two decisions about location, one decision concerning the move away from the original place of residence, the second decision concerning the selection of a new place. The decisions are either influenced or determined by society (outside agencies). Totally voluntary decisions by individuals, i.e., those made completely independent of societal influence, are empirically non-existent, as "in reality all decisions contain a superindividual component; the individual is seen as an open system; his behavior is subject to family upbringing, cultural biases, and other constraints originating in his surroundings" (p. 22). Eichenbaum then created a matrix with four empirical categories, which he labeled migrants, refugees, allocatees, and slaves.

Decision to Move from Original Place

		Influenced by Society	Determined by Society
Decision to Move to a New Place	Influenced by Society	Migrants	Refugees
	Determined by Society	Allocatees	Slaves

The four labels are applied differently than in colloquial or established scientific usage. According to Eichenbaum, refugees, allocatees, and slaves³ result from forced movements. Both refugees and slaves are forced to move; both allocatees and slaves are forced to settle in determined places. The category of refugees includes "all forced moves brought about through social actions. Thus persons moving because of religious or political persecution or the ravages of war are placed in the same category as those moving because of highway construction, river valley development, or eviction" (p. 28). Again, victims of natural disasters are not mentioned under any category.

Eichenbaum also described some general features of forced population movements. These movements may often cause several kinds of unprecedented population transfers: the first time that certain types of people arrive in an area; the first time that all the individuals of a certain status or population leave an area; or migration of unusually large numbers of people, often in an unusually rapid manner. Forced movements are often closely connected with a controlling social organization that overpowers individuals and directs their movements in one way or another, whereas voluntary migration is often less closely connected with such organizations. Finally, forced movements are often closely associated with the existence of cultural and racial differences in the society of origin.

In sum, forced migration is distinguished from voluntary migration by the diminished power of decision in the former, sometimes reaching an extreme in which the forced migrants are totally powerless. Although natural disasters are not mentioned by most theorists as a cause of forced migration, the same element of powerlessness applies. Another important distinguishing factor is the original absence on the part of forced migrants of a desire or motivation to leave their place of residence. A change or changes in the environment that are detrimental to the individual or collectivity deprive the collectivity (or various members of it) of security and establish new, more dangerous conditions. People who would have remained where they were under the earlier conditions now must leave or face insult, injury, imprisonment, or death. Migration becomes a means of escaping from a threatening situation, but the forced migrant is more oriented toward retention or reestablishment of past conditions than the voluntary migrant. The balancing of cost and benefit in migration decision making is often crudely expressed in terms of push and pull factors. Using that terminology, forced or involuntary migration occurs because of the strength of the push element.

Perspective

The thirteen case studies in this book and the concluding chapter explore the internal social and economic dynamics of dislocation, migration, and resettlement. These are studies of decision making and social process. The focus in each case is the series of problems that confront dislocated peoples and the ways they cope or find solutions in order to continue as individuals, families, and collectivities. Each author presents people as actors rather than as targets or clients, and therefore, each study reveals the inner force and direction of people who are all too often seen as totally powerless and totally dependent. This local human dimension is often overlooked by planners and policy makers who deal with the "big picture" or handle the logistics of relief. Because of this neglect, their well-meaning efforts often become another distressing force with which forced migrants must contend. Although this volume is designed to clarify some conceptual issues about social process and adaptation to stress, the authors hope that the information and conclusions presented here will contribute to more sensitive and effective policies in an era in which human populations are frequently uprooted.

The emphasis in this collection of articles is on social process rather than on current events or enduring structures. Although each of the cases is dramatic and many of them have been the subject of journalistic reporting, the chapters of this book probe beneath the surface drama to analyze the stresses of relocation, the means and forms of adaptation to new or changed environments, and short-term and long-term impacts of forced migration and resettlement on individuals and communities. The authors demonstrate how, in Weber's (1964:110) words, "sociological analysis both abstracts from reality and at the same time helps us to understand it, in that it shows with what degree of approximation a concrete historical phenomenon can be subsumed" under more general concepts.

Weber also declared that "the specific task of sociological analysis, or ... of the other sciences of action, ... is the interpretation of action in terms of its subjective meaning" (1964: 94). The chapters of this book focus on people faced with making decisions about coping with the often overwhelming problems presented by dislocation and resettlement. In most cases the authors are not concerned with evaluating the effectiveness of these decisions, but with understanding them as rational, goal-oriented behavior and as attempts to develop effective (consistent with their own perceptions of well-being) coping mechanisms to deal with varied stresses. Much of the work on migration is restricted to demographic, physical, and biological criteria and measures (Mangalam 1968). This volume addresses the human meaning of forced migration as expressed in social action (flight, resistance, reorganization, and so on). After the cameras and reporters have departed, and the attention of the mass audiences everywhere has turned to other events and arenas in this world of instant but fleeting imagery, the up-rooted and resettling people remain to cope with the old and new problems of their lives. We hope that lessons from their lives will remain with us.

Mangalam has noted that "study of a migrating collectivity provides the behavioral scientists with a natural laboratory situation to observe changes in human behavior under varying conditions" (1968:18). The thirteen cases and concluding chapter are reports from that laboratory, providing primary data and concepts to permit social scientists and others to understand the actual processes by which people and gro...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction. Involuntary Migration and Resettlement: Causes and Contexts
• PART 1 RESETTLEMENT DUE TO POLITICAL UPHEAVAL
• PART 2 RESETTLEMENT DUE TO NATURAL DISASTERS
• PART 3 RESETTLEMENT AS AN ELEMENT OF PLANNED CHANGE
• PART 4 CONCLUSION
• Bibliography
• The Contributors
• Index