IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/oxdevs/v38y2010i1p43-62.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Migration as Emancipation? The Impact of Internal and International Migration on the Position of Women Left Behind in Rural Morocco

Author

Listed:
  • Hein de Haas
  • Aleida van Rooij

Abstract

Based on quantitative and qualitative fieldwork, this paper analyses how internal and international out-migration of men has affected the position of women left behind in a rural area in southern Morocco. The results generally refute the hypothesis that migration changes gender roles. Although international migration and remittances enable women and their families to live more comfortable and secure lives, internal migration often coincides with increasing workloads and uncertainty. Although their husbands' migration leads to a temporary increase in the tasks and responsibilities of women, this new role is generally perceived as a burden and should therefore not be equated with emancipation in the meaning of making independent choices against prevailing gender norms. In a classical “patriarchal bargain”, women prefer to avoid overt rule-breaking in order to secure their social position. Significant improvements in the position of rural women are primarily the result of general social and cultural change, although migration might have played an indirect, accelerating role in these processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Hein de Haas & Aleida van Rooij, 2010. "Migration as Emancipation? The Impact of Internal and International Migration on the Position of Women Left Behind in Rural Morocco," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 43-62.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:oxdevs:v:38:y:2010:i:1:p:43-62
    DOI: 10.1080/13600810903551603
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13600810903551603
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13600810903551603?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frank Ellis, 2000. "The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 289-302, May.
    2. Louka T. Katseli & Robert E.B. Lucas & Theodora Xenogiani, 2006. "Effects of Migration on Sending Countries: What Do We Know?," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 250, OECD Publishing.
    3. Ellis, Frank, 2000. "Rural Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198296966.
    4. Fargues, Philippe, 2006. "The demographic benefit of international migration : hypothesis and application to the Middle Eastern and North African contexts," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4050, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anghel, Remus Gabriel & Piracha, Matloob & Randazzo, Teresa, 2015. "Migrants' Remittances: Channelling Globalization," IZA Discussion Papers 9516, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Pratistha Joshi Rajkarnikar, 2020. "Male migration and women’s decision-making in Nepal," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 959-982, December.
    3. Tuccio, Michele & Wahba, Jackline, 2018. "Return migration and the transfer of gender norms: Evidence from the Middle East," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 1006-1029.
    4. Sylvie Démurger, 2015. "Migration and families left behind," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 144-144, April.
    5. Hein De Haas & Tineke Fokkema, 2010. "Intra‐Household Conflicts in Migration Decisionmaking: Return and Pendulum Migration in Morocco," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(3), pages 541-561, September.
    6. Kosec, Katrina & Song, Jie & Zhao, Hongdi & Holtemeyer, Brian, 2021. "The Gendered Impact of Income Fluctuations on Household Departure, Labor Supply, and Human Capital Decisions," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315094, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Anda DAVID & Björn NILSSON, 2021. "Migration and rural development in NENA countries," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 53, pages 147-165.
    8. Dina Najjar & Boubaker Dhehibi & Aden Aw-Hassan & Abderrahim Bentaibi, 2017. "Climate Change, Gender, Decision-Making Power, and Migration into the Saiss Region of Morocco," Working Papers 1102, Economic Research Forum, revised 06 Jan 2017.
    9. Guoqing Shi & Yuanke Zhao & Xiaoya Mei & Dengcai Yan & Hubiao Zhang & Yuangang Xu & Yingping Dong, 2022. "Livelihood Resilience Perception: Gender Equalisation of Resettlers from Rural Reservoirs—Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-22, September.
    10. Jeeyon Janet Kim & Elizabeth Stites & Patrick Webb & Mark A. Constas & Daniel Maxwell, 2019. "The effects of male out-migration on household food security in rural Nepal," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(3), pages 719-732, June.
    11. H. Arokkiaraj & Archana Kaushik & S. Irudaya Rajan, 2021. "Effects of International Male Migration on Wives Left Behind in Rural Tamil Nadu," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 228-247, June.
    12. Elizabeth Finnis, 2017. "Collective Action, Envisioning the Future and Women’s Self-help Groups: A Case Study from South India," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 24(1), pages 1-23, February.
    13. Baada, Jemima Nomunume & Najjar, Dina, 2020. "A review of the effects of migration on the feminization of agrarian dryland economies," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 338767, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Adnan M. S. Fakir & Naveen Abedin, 2021. "Empowered by Absence: Does Male Out-migration Empower Female Household Heads Left Behind?," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 503-527, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rao, Nitya, 2017. "Assets, Agency and Legitimacy: Towards a Relational Understanding of Gender Equality Policy and Practice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 43-54.
    2. Babigumira, Ronnie & Angelsen, Arild & Buis, Maarten & Bauch, Simone & Sunderland, Terry & Wunder, Sven, 2014. "Forest Clearing in Rural Livelihoods: Household-Level Global-Comparative Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 67-79.
    3. Jan Fałkowski & Maciej Jakubowski & Paweł Strawiński, 2014. "Returns from income strategies in rural Poland," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 22(1), pages 139-178, January.
    4. Debelo Bedada Yadeta & Fetene Bogale Hunegnaw, 2022. "Effect of International Remittance on Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 383-402, June.
    5. Food Security and Agricultural Projects Analysis Service (ESAF), 2004. "Food insecurity and vulnerability in Viet Nam: Profiles of four vulnerable groups," ESA Working Papers 23798, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    6. Cristian ÎNCALTARAU & Sorin-Stefan MAHA & Liviu-George MAHA, 2011. "A Broader Look on Migration: A Two Way Interaction Between Development and Migration in the Country Of Origin," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 8, pages 285-297, December.
    7. Munshi Sulaiman & Mehnaz Rabbani & Vivek A. Prakash, 2010. "Impact Assessment of CFPR/TUP: A Descriptive Analysis Based on 2002-2005 Panel Data," Working Papers id:2567, eSocialSciences.
    8. Soltani, Arezoo & Angelsen, Arild & Eid, Tron & Naieni, Mohammad Saeid Noori & Shamekhi, Taghi, 2012. "Poverty, sustainability, and household livelihood strategies in Zagros, Iran," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 60-70.
    9. Sunderlin, William D. & Dewi, Sonya & Puntodewo, Atie & Müller, Daniel & Angelsen, Arild & Epprecht, Michael, 2008. "Why forests are important for global poverty alleviation: A spatial explanation," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 13(2).
    10. Dolores Koenig, 2024. "Evaluating well‐being after compulsory resettlement: Livelihoods, standards of living, and well‐being in Manantali, Mali," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 210-220, June.
    11. repec:zbw:iamodp:109518 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Hendrawan, Dienda C P & Musshoff, Oliver, 2022. "Oil Palm Smallholder Farmers' Livelihood Resilience and Decision Making in Replanting," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322441, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Jon D. Unruh, 2008. "Toward sustainable livelihoods after war: Reconstituting rural land tenure systems," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(2), pages 103-115, May.
    14. Possenti, Silvia., 2012. "Rural development strategies as a path to decent work and reducing urban informal employment : the case of South Africa," ILO Working Papers 994790883402676, International Labour Organization.
    15. Yen H. T. Nguyen & Tuyen Q. Tran & Dung T. Hoang & Thu M. T. Tran & Trung T. Nguyen, 2023. "Land quality, income, and poverty among rural households in the North Central Region, Vietnam," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 150-172, June.
    16. Walelign,Solomon Zena & Wang Sonne,Soazic Elise & Seshan,Ganesh Kumar, 2022. "Livelihood Impacts of Refugees on Host Communities : Evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10044, The World Bank.
    17. Porro, Roberto & Lopez-Feldman, Alejandro & Vela-Alvarado, Jorge W., 2015. "Forest use and agriculture in Ucayali, Peru: Livelihood strategies, poverty and wealth in an Amazon frontier," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 47-56.
    18. Jung, Suhyun & Hajjar, Reem, 2023. "The livelihood impacts of transnational aid for climate change mitigation: Evidence from Ghana," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    19. Tiziana Pagnani & Elisabetta Gotor & Enoch Kikulwe & Francesco Caracciolo, 2021. "Livelihood assets’ influence on Ugandan farmers’ control practices for Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW)," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-19, December.
    20. Gayatri Koolwal & Dominique van de Walle, 2013. "Access to Water, Women's Work, and Child Outcomes," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(2), pages 369-405.
    21. Anne Jerneck, 2018. "What about Gender in Climate Change? Twelve Feminist Lessons from Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-20, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:oxdevs:v:38:y:2010:i:1:p:43-62. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CODS20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.