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Begin New Search Topic Migration Political Geography Africa Content Type Journal Article Publishing Institution German Institute of Global and Area Studies

1. Healthcare-Seeking Practices of African and Rural-to-Urban Migrants in Guangzhou

Author:
Tabea Bork-Huffer
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Taking the examples of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant and African migrant businesspeople in Guangzhou, this article inquires into the commonalities and differences in the health status and health- care-seeking practices of both groups. While both populations of migrants are diverse and heterogeneous, there are many commonali- ties with regard to the challenges they face compared to the Chinese local population. Mixed-methods research frameworks and qualitative and quantitative methods were applied. While existing publications emphasise lacking financial access to healthcare, further individual and social factors account for migrants’ healthcare choices. Their access to healthcare can be improved only by introducing insurance schemes with portable benefits, providing localised and culturally adequate health services adapted to migrants’ specific needs and health risks, and enhancing patient orientation and responsiveness by health professionals.
Topic:
Migration, Health Care Policy, Urban, and Rural
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and Asia

2. Sino-African Encounters in Ghana and Nigeria: From Conflict to Conviviality and Mutual Benefit

Author:
Ben Lampert and Giles Mohan
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
China's renewed engagement with Africa is often framed as a form of imperialism, with the growing number of Chinese migrants on the continent seen as an exploitative presence. Such claims have generally been based on little evidence, and where more detailed empirical studies have emerged, they tend to emphasise the tensions and conflicts that have arisen. Our research on Chinese migrants in Ghana and Nigeria suggests that while there are concerns about Chinese competition in the informal retail sector and the treatment of local labour in Chinese enterprises, narratives of apparent tension and conflict are often much more nuanced than is generally recognised. Furthermore, more convivial and cooperative relations have also emerged and these have facilitated important opportunities for Africans to benefit from the Chinese presence. However, while the presence of Chinese migrants in African socio-economic life can be more integrated and mutually beneficial than is often assumed, the ability of African actors to benefit from this presence is highly uneven, placing the politics of class at the centre of any understanding of Sino-African encounters.
Topic:
Development and Migration
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and Nigeria

3. Chinese Employers and Their Ugandan Workers: Tensions, Frictions and Cooperation in an African City

Author:
Codrin Arsene
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyses the context in which a group of African workers interact with their Chinese employers within a specific ethno- graphic space: Chinese-owned shops in Kampala, Uganda. By exploring enjawulo, the locally embedded cultural, social and economic notion of work and labour, I reveal how relations between Chinese employers and Ugandan employees are shaped by the former's knowledge and acceptance of this practice. This analytical lens contextualises the two groups' divergent goals, opinions and aspirations, examines the interpersonal dimensions of their social relations, and also analyses employers' and employees' opinions on labour conflicts, cooperation and understanding. The goal of the paper is to explore and deconstruct the context in which Chinese store owners and their local employees interact, cohabit, and sometimes even find common ground, despite markedly different economic, social, cultural, racial and linguistic backgrounds.
Topic:
Migration
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, China, and Kampala