GENDERED PATTERNS OF MALAWIAN CONTEMPORARY MIGRANCY: THE CASE OF ZUBAYUMO MAKAMO AREA IN MZIMBA DISTRICT, 1970s – 2005

Abstract

For a long time much of the literature on international migrancy from Malawi has portrayed migration as a male phenomenon. Despite its existence, female migration has not been documented. This study documents the gendered nature of international migrancy from Malawi, especially between the 1970s and 2005.By using the human agency school, the study seeks to retrieve women from their marginalization in academic research where they are either relegated to footnotes or erased altogether. The study addresses the gendered patterns and processes of migration and argues that women have not been simple recipients of the proceeds of male migration, neither have they been simple victims of the social and economic effects of it. Acting on their own and sometimes encouraged by family members, women have at times shown initiative by migrating for work or for trade. In doing so, they have taken advantage of economic and social opportunities both at home and abroad. The study further shows that even during the old migration days of the colonial period, migration was, to some extent, a gendered phenomenon. Thus, the study further argues that the economic and political changes taking place between the 1970s and 1990s both at the local and regional levels facilitated the participation of increased numbers of women in migrancy. vii The study also examines the social categories of both male and female migrants involved in migration, the decision-making processes behind it and the gender-specific motivations of male and female migrants. The experiences of female migrants demonstrate the creative responses of women themselves. They show how women can create a world of migrancy of their own both at the individual and the group levels. The study then concludes that female migration is, among others, a result of weakening patriarchal structures and women empowerment at both the household and community levels.