article
Labour emigration among the Moçambique Thonga: comments on a study by Marvin Harris
Africa • 30 (2) • Published In 1960 • Pages: 141-152
By: Rita-Ferreira, A. (António).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article is a response to Marvin Harris's previous paper on factors which led to the conversion of the Thonga from autonomous smallholder farmers to vulnerable wage workers. While Harris attributes this transformation to gender and power relations within the family (notably the traditional subordinate position of the younger brothers within Thonga socioeconomic hierarchy), the present article focuses on cultural duties expected of family members. More precisely, the paper locates this transformation in broad characteristic features of Thonga society including the expectation that family members and relatives are 'entitled of right not only to hospitality but also to gifts of various kinds and to labor assistance.' The article discusses how these shared virtues serve both as a push and pool factors for cyclical migration. In other words, availability of labor help made it easy for household heads to migrate while the obligation to give gifts and assist others forced migrants to come back.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cultural identity and pride
- Community structure
- Labor supply and employment
- External relations
- Household
- Family relationships
- Inter-ethnic relations
- Acculturation and culture contact
- History
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tsonga
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2010
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2010
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1890-1960
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Thonga villages in Mozambique and South Africa
- NotesAdditional notes
- A. Rita-Ferreira
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-151)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 29010790
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tsonga (African peoples)