Boundaries and Barriers: Social Institutions and Domestic Migration in Southern Africa

About the Project

Boundaries and Barriers is an in-depth book project examining domestic migration within Malawi and Zambia. This work looks at the obstacles migrants face when seeking to enter and integrate into new communities, particularly those rooted in ethnic identities. By exploring these boundaries, the book aims to illuminate how they influence the lived experiences of both migrants and long-term residents in these countries. 

The project encompasses a broad range of critical themes, including:

• Social Integration - how migrants assimilate into their new surroundings.
• Community Participation - how migrants engage with local organizations and initiatives.
• Political Participation - the extent migrants are involved in local governance, decision-making processes, and social welfare.

The research uses a combination of various methodologies, including qualitative data from interviews and focus groups conducted in Malawi and Zambia. Furthermore, it incorporates valuable secondary data to provide a comprehensive view of the issues at hand. Ultimately, Boundaries and Barriers seeks to contribute to the ongoing discourse on migration and integration in the context of sub-Saharan Africa, offering insights that could inform policy and practice in the region. 

This book builds upon the foundational data gathered by GLD’s LPGI in 2019, which was part of the projects Social Institutions and Governance: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa and Urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia.

Collaborating Researchers

Hans Luders, Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Ellen Lust, Founder and Director, Governance and Local Development Institute at Cornell University and the University of Gothenburg.

Erica Ann Metheney, Statistician at GLD and Head of GLD Data.