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Migration, Cross-Border Trade and Development in Africa pp 63–97Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Congolese Middle Class Migrants Labour Market Incorporation in Pretoria

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies of Sustainable Business in Africa ((PSSBA))

Abstract

Drawing on Bauder’s (2006) theory, this chapter argues that there are dialectical relations between Congolese middle-class migrants and Pretoria’s labour market . This means Pretoria’s labour market places limits on the Congolese labour incorporation. However, though Congolese middle classes face these barriers , they employ various formal and/or informal strategies which allow them to find permanent jobs and better their lives in Pretoria , the capital city of South Africa . The chapter is the result of an ethnographic research project, based on life-story interviews, observations and documentary research, conducted from 2012 to 2013 in Pretoria among middle-class Congolese who are formally employed by South African institutions. Additional relevant data was gathered from some of them through unofficial conversations between 2014 and 2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Economy Programme, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Saint-José Inaka

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  1. Saint-José Inaka
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Correspondence to Saint-José Inaka .

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  1. Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn), Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Christopher Changwe Nshimbi

  2. Department of Geography, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa, South Africa

    Inocent Moyo

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Inaka, SJ. (2017). Congolese Middle Class Migrants Labour Market Incorporation in Pretoria. In: Nshimbi, C., Moyo, I. (eds) Migration, Cross-Border Trade and Development in Africa. Palgrave Studies of Sustainable Business in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55399-3_4

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