Local realities and global possibilities: deconstructing the imaginations of aspiring migrants in Senegal

Abstract

Recent studies show that the numbers of aspiring migrants continue to be on the increase worldwide not only in the typical emigration countries in the South but also in the usual destination countries in the North. Yet, while migration theorists have recently included the micro perspective of individual agency and sociocultural logics in their search for the engine behind the migration flows, far less research has been done on the sociocultural embeddedness of the imaginations of aspiring migrants, most of whom will never migrate. In Senegal, an increasing large number of men and women are very focused on transnational migration. This article tries to unravel the knot as to what lies at the core of this seeming national preoccupation with migration out of Senegal. Its conclusion suggests that the pervasive desire of so many is rooted in the way in which the economic claims of family members and friends are culturally informed.

Keywords:

• migration aspirations
• solidarity networks
• West Africa
• Senegal
• imaginations
• cultural anthropology

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful for the helpful comments from anonymous reviewers on earlier versions and in particular to Ellen Bal, for her constructive suggestions and feedback.

Notes

1. The literature on Senegalese migration is enormous. An attempt was made by Deville (2009) to compile all the existing studies in the migration between Africa and Europe (MAFE) project.

2. A discussion of these strategies falls beyond the scope of this article, but they are basically related to the replacement of informal institutions by formal ones (see e.g. Adi 2005).

3. This is a phenomenon which I have experienced myself on several occasions during my 6-year stay in the country.

4. The Mourid Sufi order, known to be the richest and most active order in Senegal, is one of the four major Sufi orders in Senegal, the others being the Tijaniyyah which is the largest in membership, the Qadiriyya and the Layène.

5. This article was published in three languages (Willems 2007a, 2007b, 2008).

6. Two in three (67.8%) of international migrants are between 15 and 34 years of age at the time of leaving Senegal, 53.7% is married and 52% originate from urban areas (GoS 2004). The majority of migrants is still male in spite of the growing numbers of female migrants.

7. It is very difficult for the younger generation to obtain a formal job, because over the past 15 years, job creation occurred primarily in the informal sector, where 97% of new jobs were generated between 1995 and 2004 (World Bank 2007).

8. Interview held on 22 August 2009.

9. Interview held on 21 August 2009.

10. Interview held on 13 August 2009.

11. Interview held on 18 August 2009.

12. Interview held on 25 August 2009.

13. In 2007, 1 in every 10 households in Senegal has a member in international migration (Lessault and Mezger 2010).

14. Walfadjri is a non-state television station.

15. Interview held on 18 August 2009.

16. The FCFA is the local Senegalese currency (which it shares with 16 other West African member countries of the UMOA); FCFA 10,000 is approximately €15.

17. The Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam, and prescribes each Muslim to give alms to the needy at least once a week, usually on Friday. It is a common joke to say that because of this religious prescription, on Fridays, one finds many more beggars on the streets in Dakar than on any other day of the week.

18. 64.2% of the population is younger than 25 years.

19. Suleimane also told of migrants who go to the extent of hiding their telephone number from relatives and friends, so that requests for money can only reach them through their wives who remained in Senegal. That way, they are not obliged to refuse directly to the persons requesting them for money.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roos Willems

ROOS WILLEMS is Associate Researcher in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Leuven, Belgium