Understanding the non-permanent out-migration patterns in rural Rajasthana qualitative study of the influence of household endowments

Resumen

This thesis explores the out-migration patterns in rural Rajasthan that are non- permanent in nature. Within the agrarian livelihood structure of the rural households in the region, out-migration appears to be a significant diversification strategy. The key research question is to understand the impact of initial endowments on the out-migration pathways of different rural households. During field research in the regions of Dungarpur and Udaipur, I used qualitative tools such as semi-structured questionnaires and FGDs to identify and analyze three specific non-permanent out-migration strategies that households are likely to undertake: seasonal migration, commuting and semi-permanent migration. To analyze these out-migration strategies, I develop a typology of rural households, influenced by their household endowment structure--Bebbington’s (1999) paper on capitals aided in the articulation of household endowments (Bebbington 1999). Endowments layers historical and cultural attributes, social relations, institutional and policy access, among its key components. I interpret the dimensions of human capital as education and skills; the dimensions of physical capital as land; the dimensions of political capital as political power and that of social capital as social networks. Caste forms a determining or an explanatory variable across the typology of rural households whereas the changing role of gender in the intra-household decision-making appears to be a critical variable in the backdrop of continued out-migration. Based on these characterizations, I find that the migration strategies are able to access these endowments in a process called “endowment mapping” (Sen 1981; Appadurai 2004) that reflect on their outcomes, and the path-dependency that the households experience. This means that households are able to undertake the out-migration trajectories are more likely pre-determined based on the household’s endowments, maneuvering them towards set outcomes and not others. For instance, households undertaking seasonal migration are likely to use build or defend their existing land assets to continue their subsistence needs. Households undertaking commuting are likely to use reserve capital to improve their access to formal education and participate in local entrepreneurship. Households undertaking semi-permanent migration build on their social networks, a result of their caste and lineage connections which helps them gain access to political institutions and advance their goals of development. I reflect on the “in-between” non-permanent out-migration patterns that households voluntarily undertake, thus rewriting the language of development, social policy and livelihood transition (Grillo 2007; Ballard 2004; Osella and Gardner 2004). This implies that rural households are actively shaping their future livelihood trajectories, with elements of non-farm employment, urbanization and lifestyle and skill changes as probable manifestations of participating in neo-liberal growth through out-migration trajectories.