Migration: An account of women’s empowerment in contemporary Namibia

Abstract

This paper aims to shed light on the phenomenon of human mobility in contemporary Namibia, concentrating in particular on gender relations. Family member/s by making the decision to move can be considered agents who, despite the external structural constraints they face, and/or as a result of interaction with them, seek to achieve their goals and live by their values in such a way as to change their and/or the family’s life and conditions. The research was guided by the constructivist grounded theory approach allowing the emergence of a ‘theory of migration’, which provides a better platform to assess the gender transformation brought about by internal migration in Namibia, and thus contributes to the current debate on migration. Female migration is regarded here as a conscientising process, which empowers women, giving them the opportunity to tackle the gender power relations and challenge the existing structural institutional settings.