Student Number : 0302103D - MA research report - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Humanities / Against the background of theories of culture, this research questions the motives and experiences of expatriates that return to South Africa, their country of origin. In re-telling their personal stories the research aims to shed light on the decisionmaking processes that repatriates go through and explores the experiences associated with such migration so as to better comprehend what social reintegration and re-adaptation means for the individual returnee. The research uses a range of interview-focused methodologies and concentrates on the interrelated topics of migration, home, identity and social experience as the primary thematic loci. In total, fourteen returnees were interviewed. The Life Histories of two of them are examined in greater detail and their fuller stories anchor the findings and research results. All interviewees stated that special emotional bonds with South Africa had brought them back “home”: they either wanted to ‘reconnect’ with their families or the country itself; they wanted to expose their children to it or they wanted to be part of the new South Africa and help bring about change. As a consequence of their migrant journeys the interviewees gained a much stronger awareness for the cultural (i.e., geographical and lifestyle) sources of their personal identities. By exposing themselves to different surroundings and cultures they developed hybrid identities, thereby layering international associations onto their established cultural traditions and senses of self. Existing models on repatriation do not adequately account for the importance culture plays in people’s experiences of repatriation; yet clearly social as well as cultural issues play an important role. The main factors relating to ease of re-integration and re-adaptation (identified by the literature as economic, logistical, financial and social support) seem to hold true - but again the current literature tends to overlook the role that culture plays in these processes. The majority of these repatriates have established strong residential ties to overseas, whether it be through multiple citizenship or a foreign spouse, and several would consider leaving again should circumstances deteriorate locally. The research was fundamentally qualitative and therefore narrowly focused in nature. A so-called ‘snow-ball’ system was used to identify possible interviewees. This resulted in findings that may have limited statistical validity in the strict sense. Nonetheless, the data generated valuable insights that might be considered applicable for later analytical incorporation and/or policy applications in regards to the continuing ‘brain drain’ out of South Africa and other countries of the Developing World.

Conflict between returning and non-migrant populations is a pervasive yet frequently overlooked issue in post-conflict societies. While scholars have demonstrated how out-migration can exacerbate civil war, less is understood about what happens when the same populations return. This dissertation interrogates how legacies of forced migration influence conflict dynamics in countries-of-origin. I argue that return migration creates new social divisions in local communities based on where individuals lived during the war – in-country or abroad. These new cleavages become sources of conflict when institutions – like land codes, citizenship regimes, or language laws – provide differential outcomes to individuals based on their migration history. Using ethnographic evidence gathered in Burundi and Tanzania between 2014 and 2016, I demonstrate how refugee return to Burundi after the country’s 1993-2003 civil war created new identity divisions between so-called rapatriés and résidents. Local institutions governing land disputes hardened competition between these groups, leading to widespread, violent, local conflict. Consequently, when Burundi faced a national-level political crisis in 2015, prior experiences of return shaped both the character and timing of renewed refugee flight. By illuminating the role of reverse population movements in shaping future conflict, this study demonstrates why breaking the cycle of return and repeat migration is essential to conflict prevention.

Univ., Diss.--Heidelberg, 2006. / Literaturverz. S. 135 - 160.

Magisterarbeit--Universität München.

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph.D.) --Murdoch University, 2003. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-317).

Thesis (M.A.)--Kent State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 29, 2008). Advisor: Shawn M. Banasick. Keywords: Japan, Brazil, immigration, transnationalism. Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-108).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgetown University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-83).

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-60).

abstract: United States and Mexico population statistics show clear evidence of return migration. This study uses qualitative data collected in a municipality in the State of Mexico during the summer of 2010 from families comprised of Mexican nationals and United States-born children post-relocation to Mexico. Using Portes and Zhou's theoretical framework on modes of incorporation, this study illustrates the government policy, societal reception and coethnic community challenges the first and second generation face in their cases of family return migration. This study finds that the municipal government is indifferent to foreign children and their incorporation in Mexico schools. Furthermore, extended family and community, may not always aid the household's adaptation to Mexico. Despite the lack of a coethnic community, parents eventually acclimate into manual and entrepreneurial positions in society and the children contend to find a place called home. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Sociology 2011