Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

(Re)constructing rural–urban spaces: gendered livelihoods, migration, and natural resources in South Africa

  • Published:
GeoJournal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Critical approaches to development theory and practice provide alternative perspectives that focus on counterhegemonic and discursive dimensions of the development process. Feminist development is one such approach that opens up new spaces and opportunities to promote socially progressive and sustainable economic strategies. This paper uses feminist development geography as a framework to highlight the intersection of diverse spaces and economic strategies at the household and community levels. The analysis focuses on gendered livelihoods that are linked to circular migration and use of natural resources as a way to understand the integration of rural and urban spaces of development. The empirical section of this paper examines demographic patterns and socio-economic trends in Limpopo Province, South Africa as a context for the case study of two community-based women’s producer groups. These examples illustrate how economic strategies and social identities are embedded in and integrate both rural and urban spaces. This analysis contributes to feminist and post-structural development theory and practice by highlighting the potential for progressive forms of economic and social empowerment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Development is a complex and contested process with different theoretical approaches that have been applied to address social, economic, and spatial inequalities. This discussion focuses on the dual meanings of development as material actions and processes, as well as discourses about how development is constructed to support and critique different histories and power relations (see Lawson 2007 for a comprehensive discussion of the background to and theoretical frameworks within the field of development geography). In this paper, various terms are also used to depict how power relations and uneven development are manifest across multiple scales such as ‘developing region’, ‘developing world’, and ‘global North and South.’

  2. In this analysis, sustainable development refers to long term and equitable access to and use of resources. This approach is applied to environmental sustainability, as well as social and economic sustainability in regards to how people develop strategies to cope with economic and environmental change. See Cruz-Torres and McElwee (2012) for a comprehensive discussion of sustainability within a gender and livelihoods framework.

  3. The currency exchange rate in 2002 was approximately six Rand to one US dollar.

References

  • Adelzadeh, A. (2003). South Africa Human Development Report 2003. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bebbington, A. (2000). Reencountering development: Livelihood transition and place transformation in the Andes. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 90(3), 495–520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beneria, L. (2003). Gender, development and globalization: Economics as if all people mattered. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bob, U. (2000). Gender, the role of the chieftaincy and rural women’s access to land under the land reform program in KwaZulu-Natal. Alternation, 7(2), 48–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bob, U. (2001). The intersection of gender, race and class: The socio-economic and spatial implications of differentiation in the former homelands of South Africa. South African Geographical Review, 83(3), 190–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bob, U. (2008). Rural women’s relation to land resources in KwaZulu-Natal: Issues of Access and Control. Alternation, 15(1), 110–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Budlender, D., Mgweba, S., Motsepe, K., & Williams, L. (2011). Women, land and customary law. Johannesburg: Community Agency for Social Enquiry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chant, S. (2008). The ‘feminisation of poverty’ and the ‘feminisation of anti-poverty’ programmes: Room for revision? Journal of Development Studies, 44(2), 165–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collinson, A. M., Gerritsen, A. A. M., Clark, S. J., Kahn, K., & Tollman, M. S. (2009). Migration and socio-economic change in rural South Africa, 2000–2007. In M. Collinson, K. Aduzu, M. White, & S. Findley (Eds.), The dynamics of migration, health and livleihoods: INDEPTH network perspectives (pp. 81–108). England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collinson, M., Wolff, B., Tollman, S. M., & Kahn, K. (2006). Trends in internal labour migration from rural Limpopo Province, male risk behavior, and implications for the spread of HIV/AIDS in rural South Africa. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32(4), 633–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crush, J., & James, W. (Eds.). (1995). Crossing boundaries: Mine migrancy in a democratic South Africa. Cape Town: David Phillip.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cruz-Torres, M. L., & McElwee, P. (2012). Gender and sustainability: Lessons from Asia and Latin America. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, R., & Marais, L. (Eds.). (2002). Transforming rural and urban spaces in South Africa during the 1990s: Reform, restitution, restructuring. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eastwood, R., Kirsten, J., & Lipton, M. (2006). Premature deagriculturalisation? Land inequality and rural dependency in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Journal of Development Studies, 42(8), 1325–1349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, E. (2000). Making a living: Changing livelihoods in rural Africa. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, A. (2008). Geography and land reform. The Geographical Review, 98(3), 309–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goebel, A. (2002). Gender, environment and development in South Africa. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 23(2), 293–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, R., Wisborg, P., Shirinda, S., & Zamchiya, P. (2013). Farm workers and farm dwellers in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Journal of Agrarian Change, 13(1), 47–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, G. (2002). Disabling globalization: Places of power in post-apartheid South Africa. Berkeley, CA: University of Berkeley Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer, N. (1994). Reversed Realities. Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kessides, C. (2007). The urban transition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and opportunities. Environment and Planning C, 25(4), 466–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, B. H. (2006). Placing Kangwane in the new South Africa. The Geographical Review, 96(1), 79–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, B. H. (2007). Developing KaNgwane: Geographies of segregation and integration in the new South Africa. The Geographical Journal, 173(1), 13–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, B. (2011). Spatialising livelihoods: Resource access and livelihood spaces in South Africa. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 36(2), 297–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kok, P., & Collinson, M. (2006). Migration and urbanization in South Africa. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. Report 03-04-02.

  • Lawson, V. (2007). Making development geography. London: Hodder Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemon, A. (2000). Urbanization and urban forms. In R. Fox & K. Rowntree (Eds.), The geography of South Africa in a changing world (pp. 186–210). Oxford: Oxford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipton, M. (1977). Why poor people stay poor: Urban bias in world development. London: Temple Smith.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipton, M., Ellis, F., & Lipton, M. (1996). Land, labour and livelihoods in rural South Africa (Vol. 2: KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Province). University of Natal: Indicator Press.

  • McCusker, B., & Carr, E. R. (2006). The co-production of livelihoods and land use change: Case studies from South Africa and Ghana. Geoforum, 37(5), 790–804.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCusker, B., & Oberhauser, A. M. (2006). An assessment of women’s access to natural resources through communal projects in South Africa. GeoJournal, 66(4), 325–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meer, S. (Ed.). (1997). Women, land and authority: perspectives from South Africa. Braamfontein: National Land Committee.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform (2009). The comprehensive rural development programme framework. Retrieved 20 February 2015. http://www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za/phocadownload/Strategic-Plan/Strategic_Plan_2009_2012.pdf

  • Misana, S. (2012). Transformation and decline of Miombo Woodlands in Eastern Tanzania. In A. Musyoki & M. Khayesi (Eds.), Environment and development: Selected themes from eastern and southern Africa (pp. 76–98). Botswana: Bay Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mudao, J., Schmidt, R., Smith, J., & Dillingham, R. (2013). “Mukondeni ceramic water filter business.” In Conference paper, Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 20 February 2015. http://www.guninetwork.org/guni.conference/2013-guni-conference/mukondeni-ceramic-water-filter-business

  • Musyoki, A., & Khayesi, M. (Eds.). (2012). Environment and development: Selected themes from eastern and southern Africa. Botswana: Bay Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musyoki, A., & Tshatsinde, T. M. (2012). Land Reform Policy and Rural Development in South Africa. In A. Musyoki & M. Khayesi (Eds.), Environment and development: Selected themes from eastern and southern Africa (pp. 180–204). Botswana: Bay Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ntsembeza, L., & Hall, R. (Eds.). (2007). The land question in South Africa: The challenge of transformation and redistribution. Cape Town: HSRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberhauser, A. M. (2001). Fieldnotes.  Mashamba, South Africa. July 2001.

  • Oberhauser, A. M. (2002). Fieldnotes. Tshandama, South Africa. July 2002.

  • Oberhauser, A. M. (2014). Crossing boundaries: transnational feminist methodologies in the global North and South. In A. M. Oberhauser & I. Johnston-Anumonwo (Eds.), Global perspectives on gender and space: Engaging feminism and development (pp. 87–102). New York: Routledge Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberhauser, A. M., & Pratt, A. (2004). Women’s collective economic strategies and political transformation in rural South Africa. Gender, Place and Culture, 11(2), 209–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parpart, J., Rai, R., & Staudt, K. (2002). Rethinking empowerment: Gender and development in a global/local world. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posel, D. (2003). Have migration patterns in post-apartheid South Africa changed? In Paper presented at the Conference on African Migration in Comparative Perspective, Johannesburg, 4–7 June 2003.

  • Rakodi, C. (2002). A livelihoods approach – conceptual issues and definitions. In C. Rakodi & T. Lloyd-Jones (Eds.), Urban livelihoods: A people-centered approach to reducing poverty (pp. 3–23). London: Earthscan Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Razavi, S. (Ed.). (2002). Shifting burdens: Gender and agrarian change under neoliberalism. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Resurreccion, B. P., & Elmhirst, R. (Eds.). (2008). Gender and natural resource management: Livelihoods, mobility and interventions. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, K. (Ed.). (2004). Feminist post-development thought: Rethinking modernity, post-colonialism and representation. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoones, I. (2009). Livelihoods perspectives and rural development. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 36(1), 171–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton, S., Campbell, B., Lotz-Sisitka, H., & Shackelton, C. (2008). Links between local trade in natural products, livelihoods and poverty alleviation in a semi-arid region of South Africa. World Development, 36(3), 505–526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics South Africa. (2012a). Census 2011 provinces as a glance. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics South Africa. (2012b). Census 2011 municipal report—Limpopo. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • The South African Geographical Journal (2001). Bantustans 83(3).

  • The World Bank (2013). Developing countries need to harness urbanization to achieve the MDGs: IMF-World Bank report’, The World Bank Group. Retrieved 20 February 2015. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/04/17/developing-countries-need-to-harness-urbanization-to-achieve-mdgs-imf-world-bank-report

  • Todes, A., Kok, P., Wentzel, M., Van Zyl, J., & Cross, C. (2010). Contemporary South African urbanization dynamics. Urban Forum, 21(3), 331–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsheola, J. (2012). Rural women’s survivalist livelihoods and state interventions in Ga-Ramogale Village, Limpopo Province. African Development Review, 24(3), 221–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, C. (2009). Elusive equality: Women, property rights and land reform in South Africa. South African Journal on Human Rights, 25(3), 467–490.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank colleagues who have participated in this research project at various stages.  Agnes Musyoki, Virginia Maimela, Josephine Mudau, Madzinghe Nembudani, Marubini Ramudzuli and Amy Pratt provided invaluable research assistance. Brian King and an anonymous reviewer gave useful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Derek Springston applied his cartographic skills to produce the map.  This project was supported by generous funding from the National Science Foundation (#SBR 9906626) and the Fulbright Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Ann M. Oberhauser

Authors
  1. Ann M. Oberhauser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ann M. Oberhauser.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Oberhauser, A.M. (Re)constructing rural–urban spaces: gendered livelihoods, migration, and natural resources in South Africa. GeoJournal 81, 489–502 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-015-9635-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-015-9635-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation