Doctoral Dissertation Research: Rural-Urban Linkages and Livelihood Strategies in Tamatave, Madagascar

格鲁吉亚大学研究生劳拉M。蒂尔曼，在布拉姆·塔克博士的指导下，将进行关于城市移民和他们的农村亲属之间的联系不断变化的性质和重要性的研究。村庄与城市之间的紧密联系一直是非洲城市化研究的一个长期主题，学者们最近呼吁更多地关注移民参与的各种联系，并更系统地分析这些联系如何影响移民的经济生存战略。Tilghman将在马达加斯加探讨这些问题，马达加斯加作为一个大岛与世隔绝，与非洲大陆的研究形成了有趣的对比，非洲大陆的国内和国际移民紧密交织在一起。第一，哪些因素导致移徙者保持联系的方式不同，他们保持联系的频率不同，以及他们如何看待这种联系的重要性？第二，移民与其农村原籍地的整体联系强度如何影响他们在城市中生存和发展的能力？这些研究问题将在马达加斯加东北海岸的农村-城市移民的背景下进行分析。该研究将跟踪60名移民，使用每周联系活动问卷、季节性生计和福祉评估以及定期访谈和参与者观察来了解他们在12个月内的联系活动和福祉。与移民农村家庭成员的焦点小组访谈将提供更多的信息和背景。这项研究有助于研究城乡联系和当代城市经济。这项研究将揭示现代非洲城市生活的各个方面，如根深蒂固的城市贫困，新的性别角色，福音派基督教信仰团体的日益普及，以及资本主义市场经济的日益扩大，可能会改变城市和村庄之间的长期联系。这项研究还将检验，假设联系是城市生存的必要条件，是否能在更系统的分析下，使用多层面和季节性迭代的城市经济福祉的测量。资助这项研究也支持研究生的教育。

University of Georgia graduate student Laura M. Tilghman, under the guidance of Dr. Bram Tucker, will undertake research on the changing nature and importance of linkages between urban migrants and their rural kin. The strong interconnection between village and city has been a longstanding theme of research on African urbanization, and scholars have recently called for more attention to the variation in the linkages migrants engage in, and more systematic analysis of how linkages play into migrants' economic survival strategies. Tilghman will explore these issues in Madagascar, whose isolation as a large island makes an interesting contrast to mainland African studies where internal and international migration are strongly intertwined.The study is guided by two questions. First, what factors account for variation in how migrants maintain ties, the frequency that they do so, and how they perceive the importance of such linkages? Second, how does the overall strength of migrants' ties with their rural places of origin impact their ability to survive and thrive in the city? These research questions will be analyzed in the context of rural-urban migration in the northeast coast of Madagascar. The study will follow a cohort of 60 migrants, using weekly linkage activity questionnaires, seasonal livelihood and well-being assessments, and regular interviews and participant observation to capture their linkage activities and well-being over the course of 12 months. Focus group interviews with migrants' rural family members will provide additional information and context. The study contributes to scholarship on both rural-urban linkages and contemporary urban economies. The research will shed light on how aspects of modern African city life, such as entrenched urban poverty, new gender roles, the rising popularity of evangelical Christian faith groups, and the growing reach of the capitalist market economy, may be changing the longstanding ties between cities and villages. The study will also test whether hypotheses positing that linkages are essential for urban survival hold up under more systematic analysis using multidimensional and seasonally-iterated measurements of urban economic well-being. Funding this research also supports the education of a graduate student.