A fractured diaspora : strategies and identities among Zimbabweans in Britain

This thesis analyses the experiential, performative and lived realities of the Zimbabwean diaspora in Britain. It is based on an innovative multi-sited ethnography, comprising 33 in-depth interviews and participant observation in four research sites, and draws upon concepts of diaspora and transnationalism as theoretical and analytical frameworks. Whereas the concept of diaspora typically emphasises group cohesion and solidarity, this thesis argues that the Zimbabwean diaspora in Britain has to be understood as fractured and fragmented. The diaspora is fractured in terms of ethnicity and gender; the various strategies and routes used to enter Britain; migrants' contrasting characteristics and degrees of participation in diaspora politics; the diverse meanings of the homeland and the multiple diasporic identities etched in the hostland. On the basis of data from Coventry, Birmingham, London and Wigan, the thesis examines the triadic relationship of the diaspora to the homeland and to the hostland, as well as to the group itself. Core themes and sub themes that are addressed include the phases and patterns of migration from Zimbabwe; transnational diaspora politics; the participation of the diaspora in paid work; the configuration of gender relations and roles; and the meanings of diaspora and attitudes towards return or settlement. The thesis is distinctive in the following respects: its use of multi-sited ethnographic methodology to generate data; the theoretical and empirical demonstration of how migrants participate in transnational diaspora politics; the investigation of the ability of social actors to resist institutional structures in their everyday lives in the hostland; the exploration of how gendered identities are configured in the public and private spaces of the diaspora; and the conceptual and theoretical interpretation of the Zimbabwean diaspora vis-a-vis other accounts of global diasporas. This research represents a contribution to our knowledge of the Zimbabwean diaspora in particular and to the field of diaspora and transnational studies in general

De-centring pilgrimage studies: understanding neo-pentecostal journeys and pilgrimage in Africa

This article aims to de-centre the taken-for-granted categories and empirical tendencies in the field of pilgrimage studies by discussing how the phenomenon of neo-Pentecostal journeys and pilgrimage emerges in Africa. Pentecostal Christianity’s rapid growth and development in Africa are now well-known and researched; however, some distinctive patterns of transnational religious circulation and mobilities have so far escaped academic attention. Over the last decade, West Africa has emerged as a Pentecostal spiritual centre for religious pilgrimage, a space where ‘godfathers’ mentor young, mainly male, aspiring prophets from across Africa to perform ‘extraordinary miracles’. It is also a space where politicians, diasporas, and ordinary believers flock for spiritual rebirth and release from the burden of poverty and the quest for healing and prophecy. This article highlights that the neo-Pentecostal journeys and pilgrimage are grounded in indigenous religious worldviews, Pan-African connections, and Africans’ agency, on a continent shaped by violent and exploitative structures and experiences of enslavement, colonialism, and neoliberal capitalism

Theorizing black (African) transnational masculinities

Just as masculinity is crucial in the construction of nationhood, masculinity is also significant in the making and unmaking of transnational communities. This article focuses on how black African men negotiate and perform respectable masculinity in transnational settings such as the workplace, community and family. Moving away from conceptualizations of black transnational forms of masculinities as in perpetual crisis and drawing on qualitative data collected from members of the new African diaspora in London, the article explores the diverse ways notions of masculinity and gender identities are being challenged, re-affirmed and reconfigured. The article argues that men experience a loss of status as breadwinners and a rupture of their sense of masculine identity in the reconstruction of life in the diaspora. Conditions in the hostland, in particular, women's breadwinner status and the changing gender relations, threaten men’s ‘hegemonic masculinity’ and consequently force men to negotiate respectable forms of masculinity

Gendering the Diaspora: Zimbabwean Migrants in Britain

This article analyses the performative and lived realities of the Zimbabwean diaspora in Britain. The author explores the way in which both public and private spaces of the diaspora are important arenas in the construction and reconstruction of gendered identities. It is based on multisited ethnography, comprising 33 in-depth interviews and participant observation in four research sites, and draws upon concepts of diaspora and transnationalism as theoretical and analytical frameworks. The findings suggest that the challenges to patriarchal traditions in the hostland in terms of women's primary migrant status and financial autonomy, the different labour market experiences of men and women, and egalitarian laws have caused tensions and conflict within diaspora households. The article examines how men use religious and social spaces, which provide for the affirmation of more traditional roles and relations, as a form of public resistance to changes happening within the domestic sphere

Zimbabwe : Mapping exercise

No abstract available

Transnational religious practices among Zimbabwean Catholics in Britain

This chapter is about Zimbabwean Catholic migrants’ transnational practices and seeks to examine their experiences as well as the issue of encounters with difference within the context of the Catholic Church in the UK characterized by super-diversity in its ethnic make-up as a result of transnational migration. In examining the experiences, practices and theologies of Zimbabwean migrants, the chapter pays particular attention to how the group emerged, the challenges, tensions and opportunities which arose within the British context, and how this case study informs us about global Catholicism. As migrants bring with them various forms of religious practices, their interactions with non-migrants and other migrant communities provide fertile ground for negotiations and collaboration as well as conflicts which are the basis of religious transformation

A Fractured Transnational Diaspora: The Case of Zimbabweans in Britain

Millions of Zimbabweans living abroad have been described as an emerging diaspora. However, there has been little attempt to question their designation as a diaspora, or indeed, to engage with the more theoretically informed and conceptually rich literature on diaspora. The assumption in this categorisation relies heavily upon popular usage of the term diaspora among Zimbabweans themselves both abroad and in the homeland. However, instead of suppressing discussion by simply pronouncing them “a diaspora”, it is important to examine whether or not they constitute a diaspora. Drawing on the concepts of diaspora and transnationalism and on the author’s multi-sited ethnographic research in the United Kingdom (hereafter, “Britain”), the article examines how the diaspora was dispersed, how it is constituted in the hostland and how it maintains connections with the homeland. What factors influenced people’s decisions to migrate into the diaspora and how can these phases be classified? What types of migration patterns characterise Zimbabweans’ migration to Britain? The study explores the origin, formation and articulation of the Zimbabwean diaspora in Britain, providing a conceptual and theoretical interpretation of the social formation vis-à-vis other accounts of global diasporas. The findings of this study suggest that Zimbabweans abroad are a fractured transnational diaspora. The scattering of Zimbabweans evinces some of the features commonly ascribed to a diaspora such as involuntary and voluntary dispersion of the population from the homeland; settlement in foreign territories and uneasy relationship with the hostland; strong attachment and connection to the original homeland; and the maintenance of diverse diasporic identities. The study represents a contribution to our knowledge of the Zimbabwean diaspora in particular and to the field of diaspora and transnational studies in general

Language and Muslim immigrant childhoods: the politics of belonging

No abstract available

Zimbabwean Migrants in Britain: An Overview

No abstract available