Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 405-422).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2001. / Bibliography: leaves [382]-405.

Widely considered the world’s largest migration, the ongoing rural-to-urban migration in China is unprecedented in terms of scale and impact. Millions of Chinese peasants flood to cities in waves to try their fortune. Among them, dagongmei, literally translated as “working sisters,” who are single, young, and undereducated rural women working in cities, are believed to be one of the most marginalized communities. Their segregation and discrimination in the labor market has been well documented. As a major life event, their marriages have also received academic attention, but the marriage of dagongmei in current literature is generally considered a means towards achieving social advancement, often terminating their migratory trajectory. Few studies address the question of how physical mobility and economic independence alter the social relations of dagongmei in their pursuit of dating and potential spouses across the rural-urban divide. The separations of dagongmei from patriarchal families empower them, but their legally classified rural citizenship and their lack of cultural and social capital constrain their aspirations. To closely examine how individual agency interacts with familial control and societal constraints, I conduct in-depth interviews with dagongmei, applying feminist standpoint theory, to hear their experiences concerning the social processes of mate selection. By situating marriage as a dynamic decision-making process, I identify three subgroups of women: independent seekers, resigned negotiators, and tradition reformers. My overall conclusion is that young rural women are empowered by their migration to pursue major life goals such as marriage, but traditional gender ideology still operates to confine their roles as daughters and wives in a transitional society with competing capitalist and socialist characteristics. / text

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

A main trend of demographic change – urbanisation – has a quiet companion called counter-urbanisation which is designated to the migration of groups and individuals from urban to rural areas. Counter-urbanisation is valuable for the rural culture in decline as well as for contributing to solving the arising challenges of urban areas. However, the rural area of Sweden is large and finding a place to settle might be hard. Both migrants and authorities promoting this migration may have an interest in the mapping of preferable habitats in rural areas from a counter-urbanisation perspective. Therefore, this report investigates the possibilities of procuring a method for said rural mapping. Contemporary Swedish research is consulted for specific counter-urban migrants’ choices of where to migrate. The preferred places found in the study are analysed with the geographic information system software ArcGIS. Results show a method for mapping rural areas preferred by a hypothetical statistically compiled individual can be procured. / I skuggan av urbaniseringen pågår den trend vilken benämnts kontraurbanisering som betecknar migrationen av grupper och individer från tätort till glesbygd. Kontraurbaniseringen är välbehövlig för att bibehålla levande landsbygd och mildra tätortsproblematik. Men glesbygden är stor till ytan och potentiella platser att migrera till kan vara svåra att hitta, om de alls existerar. Både migrerande individer och grupper och samhällsansvariga organisationer kan därför ha nytta av en kartlagd glesbygd i kontraurbaniseringens perspektiv. Den här rapporten frågar sig därför om det går att utforma en metod för sådan kartläggning. Detaljerna ur kontraurbaniseringens perspektiv eftersöks i samtida svensk forskning på kontraurbanisering. De för kontraurbana migranter föredragna platser funna i undersökningen bearbetas genom rasteranalys i GIS-programmet ArcGIS. Resultaten visar att en metod kan utvecklas för kartläggning av föredragna platser av en statistiskt sannolik hypotetisk kontraurban migrant.

No description available.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

In looking at rural-urban linkages, this thesis addresses the extent to which social research may be generalized within development policy. Studies of Yoruba migrants in south-western Nigeria demonstrate that the ties between migrants and their hometowns can have a positive impact on local community development, an outcome which some researchers would suggest reflects a larger trend throughout the Third World. However, using information on the historical and cultural background of the Yoruba as well as a brief examination of Yoruba immigrants to North America, this study proposes that the utility of these ties in hometown development relates more to the past circumstances of Yoruba migration than the existence of 'structural regularities' in the migrant linkages of developing countries as a whole. These conclusions are then used to argue that one cannot generalize the results of migrant-hometown studies in policy formation without an understanding of the historic evolution of those ties.

Demographic and migration characteristics of riberenos , the largest population group in the Amazon Basin, have been neglected by scholars until recently. This thesis explores the determinants and consequences of migration in the Pacaya-Samina National Reserve (PSNR), northeastern Peruvian Amazon. Our findings suggest that migration reduces the rate of population growth and alters household composition. Logit and probit models show that migration in the area is determined by individual characteristics (i.e., education level of migrants and sibling structure), household factors (i.e., family age-sex composition, kingroup size, age of male head of household, education level of male and female heads of household, illness experience, initial extraction skills, initial non-land assets, and livelihood activity reliance), and community features (land endowments and the presence of a secondary school). Multiple regressions (OLS) further reveal that the household age-sex composition and migration characteristics influence resource use. Migration features seem to be more positively associated with agricultural production and resource extraction, and negatively related with fish production. This research improves our understanding of traditional people in the PSNR area.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.