Men, migration, and households in Botswana: An exploration of connections over time and space

Journal of Southern African Studies

Volumn 23, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 405-420

  Townsend, Nicholas W ^a  

^a BROWN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CHILD WELFARE; FAMILY STRUCTURE; HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION; KINSHIP;

BOTSWANA;

EID: 0031405707     PISSN: 03057070     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/03057079708708547     Document Type: Article

References (37)

1. C. Kerven, 'Academics, Practitioners and All Kinds of Women in Development: a Reply to Peters', Journal of Southern African Studies, 10, 2 (April 1984), pp. 259-268; S. Kossoudji and E. Mueller, 'The Economic and Demographic Status of Female-headed Households in Rural Botswana', Economic Development and Social Change, 31, (1983), pp. 831-859; Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project, Botswana, Maintenance Laws and Practices in Botswana (WLSA, Gaborone 1992); Government of Botswana, Analytical Report. 1981 Population and Housing Census, Volume 4 (Central Statistics Office, Gaborone, 1987).
2. C. Kerven, 'Academics, Practitioners and All Kinds of Women in Development: a Reply to Peters', Journal of Southern African Studies, 10, 2 (April 1984), pp. 259-268; S. Kossoudji and E. Mueller, 'The Economic and Demographic Status of Female-headed Households in Rural Botswana', Economic Development and Social Change, 31, (1983), pp. 831-859; Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project, Botswana, Maintenance Laws and Practices in Botswana (WLSA, Gaborone 1992); Government of Botswana, Analytical Report. 1981 Population and Housing Census, Volume 4 (Central Statistics Office, Gaborone, 1987).
3. C. Kerven, 'Academics, Practitioners and All Kinds of Women in Development: a Reply to Peters', Journal of Southern African Studies, 10, 2 (April 1984), pp. 259-268; S. Kossoudji and E. Mueller, 'The Economic and Demographic Status of Female-headed Households in Rural Botswana', Economic Development and Social Change, 31, (1983), pp. 831-859; Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project, Botswana, Maintenance Laws and Practices in Botswana (WLSA, Gaborone 1992); Government of Botswana, Analytical Report. 1981 Population and Housing Census, Volume 4 (Central Statistics Office, Gaborone, 1987).
4. C. Kerven, 'Academics, Practitioners and All Kinds of Women in Development: a Reply to Peters', Journal of Southern African Studies, 10, 2 (April 1984), pp. 259-268; S. Kossoudji and E. Mueller, 'The Economic and Demographic Status of Female-headed Households in Rural Botswana', Economic Development and Social Change, 31, (1983), pp. 831-859; Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project, Botswana, Maintenance Laws and Practices in Botswana (WLSA, Gaborone 1992); Government of Botswana, Analytical Report. 1981 Population and Housing Census, Volume 4 (Central Statistics Office, Gaborone, 1987).
5. M. Fortes, 'Introduction', in J. Goody (ed). The Developmental Cycle in Domestic Groups (Cambridge, 1958); C. Murray, Families Divided: The impact of Migrant Labour in Lesotho (Cambridge, 1981); P. Peters, 'Gender, Development Cycles and Historical Process: A Critique of Recent Research on Women in Botswana', Journal of Southern African Studies, 10, 1 (1983), pp. 100-122.
6. M. Fortes, 'Introduction', in J. Goody (ed). The Developmental Cycle in Domestic Groups (Cambridge, 1958); C. Murray, Families Divided: The impact of Migrant Labour in Lesotho (Cambridge, 1981); P. Peters, 'Gender, Development Cycles and Historical Process: A Critique of Recent Research on Women in Botswana', Journal of Southern African Studies, 10, 1 (1983), pp. 100-122.
7. M. Fortes, 'Introduction', in J. Goody (ed). The Developmental Cycle in Domestic Groups (Cambridge, 1958); C. Murray, Families Divided: The impact of Migrant Labour in Lesotho (Cambridge, 1981); P. Peters, 'Gender, Development Cycles and Historical Process: A Critique of Recent Research on Women in Botswana', Journal of Southern African Studies, 10, 1 (1983), pp. 100-122.
8. I. Schapera, A Handbook of Tswana Law and Custom (Oxford, 1955), pp. 135-143 and 189-190; I. Schapera, Married Life in an African Tribe (Harmondsworth, 1955).
9. I. Schapera, A Handbook of Tswana Law and Custom (Oxford, 1955), pp. 135-143 and 189-190; I. Schapera, Married Life in an African Tribe (Harmondsworth, 1955).
10. A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, 'The Mother's Brother in South Africa', in his Structure and Function in Primitive Society (New York, 1965), pp. 15-31, provided the classic statement. Theories of the importance of the mother's brother are reviewed, and an argument made for the avunculate as an elementary unit of social organization, in R. Fox. Reproduction and Succession: Studies in Anthropology, Law, and Society (New Brunswick, 1993) pp. 191-232.
11. A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, 'The Mother's Brother in South Africa', in his Structure and Function in Primitive Society (New York, 1965), pp. 15-31, provided the classic statement. Theories of the importance of the mother's brother are reviewed, and an argument made for the avunculate as an elementary unit of social organization, in R. Fox. Reproduction and Succession: Studies in Anthropology, Law, and Society (New Brunswick, 1993) pp. 191-232.
12. I. A. Niehaus, 'Disharmonious Spouses and Harmonious Siblings: Conceptualizing Household Formation Among Urban Residents in Qwaqwa'. African Studies, 53, 1 (1990), pp. 115-135. J. Sharp and A. Spiegel, 'Women and Wages: Gender and the Control of Income in Farm and Bantustan Households', Journal of Southern African Studies, 16, 3 (1994) pp. 527-549, compare Qwaqwa with a rural community in the Transkei and demonstrate the importance of the local economy in determining household structure in areas which are the source of migrant labour.
13. I. A. Niehaus, 'Disharmonious Spouses and Harmonious Siblings: Conceptualizing Household Formation Among Urban Residents in Qwaqwa'. African Studies, 53, 1 (1990), pp. 115-135. J. Sharp and A. Spiegel, 'Women and Wages: Gender and the Control of Income in Farm and Bantustan Households', Journal of Southern African Studies, 16, 3 (1994) pp. 527-549, compare Qwaqwa with a rural community in the Transkei and demonstrate the importance of the local economy in determining household structure in areas which are the source of migrant labour.
14. Schapera. Handbook of Tswana Law, pp. 125-147.
15. A. Molokomme, Children of the Fence: The Maintenance of Extramarital Children under Law and Practice in Botswana(Leiden, African Studies Center, Research Report 46, 1991).
16. A. I. Garey and N. W. Townsend, 'Kinship, Courtship, and Child Maintenance Law in Botswana', Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 17, 2 (1996), pp. 189-203.
17. N. W. Townsend, 'Reproduction in anthropology and demography', in D. Kertzer and T. Fricke (eds), Anthropological Demography: Toward a New Synthesis (Chicago, 1997).
18. Theoretical criticism and qualification in particular cases are offered by the contributors to R. McC. Netting, R. R. Wilk, and E. J. Arnould (eds), Households: Comparative and Historical Studies of the Domestic Group (Berkeley, 1984). Criticism directed at current use of the household as an analytic category in demographic and development studies is in J. Bruce and C.B. Lloyd, Finding the Ties That Bind: Beyond Headship and Household (New York, Population Council. Population Council Working Papers No. 41, 1992). In Families Divided Murray discusses the meaning and structure of households in conjunction with labour migration. The nature of the household in Botswana is discussed in several of the reports of the National Migration Study, particularly in the comments of the editor, C. Kerven 'The Concept of Household in Botswana Society', in Migration in Botswana: Patterns, Causes and Consequences. Final Report of the National Migration Study (Gaborone, Central Statistics Office, 1982), Vol 3. pp. 901-904.
19. Theoretical criticism and qualification in particular cases are offered by the contributors to R. McC. Netting, R. R. Wilk, and E. J. Arnould (eds), Households: Comparative and Historical Studies of the Domestic Group (Berkeley, 1984). Criticism directed at current use of the household as an analytic category in demographic and development studies is in J. Bruce and C.B. Lloyd, Finding the Ties That Bind: Beyond Headship and Household (New York, Population Council. Population Council Working Papers No. 41, 1992). In Families Divided Murray discusses the meaning and structure of households in conjunction with labour migration. The nature of the household in Botswana is discussed in several of the reports of the National Migration Study, particularly in the comments of the editor, C. Kerven 'The Concept of Household in Botswana Society', in Migration in Botswana: Patterns, Causes and Consequences. Final Report of the National Migration Study (Gaborone, Central Statistics Office, 1982), Vol 3. pp. 901-904.
20. Theoretical criticism and qualification in particular cases are offered by the contributors to R. McC. Netting, R. R. Wilk, and E. J. Arnould (eds), Households: Comparative and Historical Studies of the Domestic Group (Berkeley, 1984). Criticism directed at current use of the household as an analytic category in demographic and development studies is in J. Bruce and C.B. Lloyd, Finding the Ties That Bind: Beyond Headship and Household (New York, Population Council. Population Council Working Papers No. 41, 1992). In Families Divided Murray discusses the meaning and structure of households in conjunction with labour migration. The nature of the household in Botswana is discussed in several of the reports of the National Migration Study, particularly in the comments of the editor, C. Kerven 'The Concept of Household in Botswana Society', in Migration in Botswana: Patterns, Causes and Consequences. Final Report of the National Migration Study (Gaborone, Central Statistics Office, 1982), Vol 3. pp. 901-904.
21. Discussions of the definition of the residential household, and of the resistance of Batswana to data collection based on it, are found in L. T. Lesetedi et al., Botswana Family Health Survey II 1988 (Gaborone, Central Statistics Office. 1989) and in the 1981 Population and Housing Census: Census Administrative/Technical Report and National Statistical Tables (Gaborone, Central Statistics Office, 1983).
22. Discussions of the definition of the residential household, and of the resistance of Batswana to data collection based on it, are found in L. T. Lesetedi et al., Botswana Family Health Survey II 1988 (Gaborone, Central Statistics Office. 1989) and in the 1981 Population and Housing Census: Census Administrative/Technical Report and National Statistical Tables (Gaborone, Central Statistics Office, 1983).
23. I. Mazonde, 'Food Security and Household Labour: Social Transformation in a Botswana Village', Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 13, 1 (1995), pp. 75-89.
24. Schapera, Handbook of Tswana Law, pp. 19-24; Schapera and Roberts, 'Rampedi revisited'.
25. Schapera, Handbook of Tswana Law, pp. 19-24; Schapera and Roberts, 'Rampedi revisited'.
26. R. Werbner, Production and Reproduction: the Dynamics of Botswana's North-Eastem Micro-regions', in R. R. Hitchcock and M. R. Smith (eds), Settlement in Botswana: The Historical Development of a Human Landscape (Gaborone, 1982), pp. 264-277.
27. I talked to thirty-five of the thirty-seven men residing in the village, to twenty-one of the twenty-three in Gaborone, to six of the nine students, to three of the eight men living elsewhere, and to five of the fifteen men who were miners in South Africa.
28. The traditional rules and changing practices of Tswana marriage are discussed in I. Schapera, 'Kinship and Marriage among the Tswana', in A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and D. Forde (eds), African Systems of Kinship and Marriage (London, 1950) pp. 140-165; Schapera, Married Life; J. L. Comaroff and J. Comaroff, 'The Management of Marriage in a Tswana Chiefdom', in E. J. Krige and J. L. Comaroff (eds). Essays on African Marriage in Southern Africa (Cape Town, 1981).
29. The traditional rules and changing practices of Tswana marriage are discussed in I. Schapera, 'Kinship and Marriage among the Tswana', in A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and D. Forde (eds), African Systems of Kinship and Marriage (London, 1950) pp. 140-165; Schapera, Married Life; J. L. Comaroff and J. Comaroff, 'The Management of Marriage in a Tswana Chiefdom', in E. J. Krige and J. L. Comaroff (eds). Essays on African Marriage in Southern Africa (Cape Town, 1981).
30. The traditional rules and changing practices of Tswana marriage are discussed in I. Schapera, 'Kinship and Marriage among the Tswana', in A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and D. Forde (eds), African Systems of Kinship and Marriage (London, 1950) pp. 140-165; Schapera, Married Life; J. L. Comaroff and J. Comaroff, 'The Management of Marriage in a Tswana Chiefdom', in E. J. Krige and J. L. Comaroff (eds). Essays on African Marriage in Southern Africa (Cape Town, 1981).
31. Since marriage is a process of negotiation and arrangement which may extend over a period of years and involve many people besides the man and woman, and since marriage is not necessarily connected to either fertility or residence, for the purposes of this table I have included under the heading 'married' four men who were at an early phase of the process but not legally or customarily married. These men were in unions acknowledged by themselves, the women concerned, and the family elders on both sides.
32. These men may be at work, and residing away from their households, for longer or shorter periods. The men at the mines, in particular, are absent for long periods.
33. Some of the young men who are students are still at primary or junior secondary school n the village, even though they are over twenty. These young men have been employed as herd boys in their youth. Other students are at senior secondary (boarding) schools, while two are university students and one is getting training abroad.
34. The men represented in Table 2 all appear in Table 1, where their situations in 1993 are reported. However, four men who appear in Table 1 are not reported in Table 2 because I could not ascertain their 1973 situations with any confidence. Their details are as follows: (1) Born 1927. In 1993 he was living at his own house in one of the peri-urban areas around Gaborone with his daughter (born 1963) and her children. He had been a builder until he was injured in 1987. He is separated with great ill-will from his wife. I did not meet him. (2) Born 1947. In 1993 he was living with his wife and children in a town several hundred kilometres away. His kin in the village reported that he had schooling and qualifications but was lost to the family and they refused to talk about him. I did not meet him. (3) Bom 1948. In 1993 he was living in the village with his wife, who runs a shebeen, and two children. He was not forthcoming. (4) Born 1950. In 1993 he was living in his mother's household. I know from other sources that he had four children, who were living with an old kinswoman of their mother, from whom he was estranged. I did not talk to him and his family did not like to talk about his past.
35. Schapera, Handbook of Tswana Law, pp. 104-117.
36. Mazonde, 'Food Security and Household Labour'.
37. Pace R. K. Silitshena, 'Where Will Batswana Live in the 21st Century?', background paper for the symposium. Botswana in the 21st Century, sponsored by the Botswana Society (Gaborone, 1993).