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THREE STORIES ABOUT LIVING WITHOUT MIGRATION IN DAKAR: COMING TO TERMS WITH THE CONTRADICTIONS OF THE MORAL ECONOMY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2015

Anne-Line Rodriguez
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Abstract

This article focuses on life without migration in Dakar. In a context of scarcity of opportunities and the emergence of emigrants as new models of success, many who remain are seen as unsuccessful and are under a personal or social expectation to emigrate. This paper examines the unfolding of everyday life without migration. Through ethnographic description, it points to the coexistence in the capital city of changes and continuities in the moral economy, the scarcity of income-generating opportunities for men, and women's growing financial contribution. This article suggests that, for those of an age to support their families, these transformations often mean living with contradictions. To overcome these tensions, inventive strategies of ‘demonstration’ and ‘concealment’ are deployed to fit in with the moral economy. However, living without migration in Dakar is often easier when an alternative moral economy is adhered to.

Résumé

Cet article traite de la vie à Dakar sans la migration. Dans un contexte de pénurie d'emplois et simultanément d’émergence des émigrés comme nouvelle figure de la réussite, ceux qui restent à Dakar sont souvent vus comme ne réussissant pas et se trouvent alors sous pression d’émigrer. Cet article examine le déroulement de la vie quotidienne menée, involontairement ou volontairement, sans la migration. A travers la description ethnographique, il met en évidence la coexistence, dans la capitale sénégalaise, de changements et permanences de l’économie morale, du manque d'opportunités de travail pour les hommes, ainsi que de la contribution financière croissante des femmes. L'article suggère que, pour ceux en âge de soutenir leurs familles, ces transformations impliquent souvent de vivre avec des contradictions. Pour s'adapter à l’économie morale et surmonter ces tensions, des stratégies ingénieuses de « cacher/montrer » sont déployées. Toutefois, vivre à Dakar sans la migration semble plus aisé lorsque l'on adhère à une économie morale alternative.

Type
West African mobilities
Information
Africa , Volume 85 , Issue 2 , May 2015 , pp. 333 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2015 

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