Women and seasonal labour migration / edited by Loes Schenk - Sandbergen

This important volume deals with the gender-specific causes and consequences of seasonal rural labour migration, or 'survival' migration, in four Indian states - Orissa, Kerala, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The book begins with an overview of migration studies. This essay demonstrates that most research in this area is male-centred which treats women as mere dependents following migrating men, rather than as independent migrants forced to leave in search of better opportunities. Three case studies are then presented which typify three crucial transformation processes related to different socio-economic, cultural and ecological conditions, and livelihood systems: the forest, the sea, the land. These case studies also deal with different categories of women involved in the migration process: married, unmarried, abandoned, and tribal women

'staying behind' while men migrate. The case studies reveal a grim picture of the effects of survival migration. The contributors show that economic gains are minimal, that there is little improvement in the economic status of women, and that there is a reinforcement of traditional gender roles indeed, an increasing subordination of women.

The solution, the contributors emphasise, lies in reducing seasonal labour migration. To demonstrate the feasibility of this, a case study is presented of a women's grassroots organisation that has been successful in doing just that in their project area.

This important book presents new research data and an original theory concerning the need to focus on women migrants and the importance of 'engendering' male-centred migration research. Invaluable reading for those in the fields of sociology, gender studies, anthropology, and migration and labour studies.