Volume 16 - Article 13 | Pages 413–440  

Family, obligations, and migration: The role of kinship in Cameroon

By Annett Fleischer

This article is part of the Special Collection 5 „Anthropological Demography in Europe“

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence of family and kin networks on the individual decision to migrate. The study is based on qualitative ethnographic data which was collected during a field research in Cameroon in spring 2005, showing the considerable impact of the extended family on the migrant’s choice to leave Cameroon for Germany. Migrants do not solely move for their own achievements and purposes, but rather as significant members of their entire immediate family. The individual is part of an informal reciprocal system of exchange which is based on trust and has social consequences, and includes duties and responsibilities for both sides.

Author’s Affiliation

• Annett Fleischer - Max-Planck-Institut für Demografische Forschung, Germany EMAIL

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

A multidimensional global migration model for use in cohort-component population projections
Volume 51 - Article 11    | Keywords: age dependency, education, international migration, migration, modelling, population projection, projections

Migration, daily commuting, or second residence? The role of location-specific capital and distance to workplace in regional mobility decisions
Volume 50 - Article 33    | Keywords: commuting, location-specific capital, migration, multilocality, regional mobility, second residence, Sozio-oekonomisches Panel (SOEP), spatial mobility

Fertility decline, changes in age structure, and the potential for demographic dividends: A global analysis
Volume 50 - Article 9    | Keywords: age structure, demographic dividend, demographic transition, fertility, migration, population momentum, working-age population

War and mobility: Using Yandex web searches to characterize intentions to leave Russia after its invasion of Ukraine
Volume 50 - Article 8    | Keywords: Brain drain, migration, Russia, search trends, Ukraine, Yandex

How do environmental stressors influence migration? A meta-regression analysis of environmental migration literature
Volume 50 - Article 2    | Keywords: environmental, instrumental variables, meta analysis, migration, partial correlation coefficient, weighted regression