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* Cecilia Tacoli (IIED, London),
* Jonathan Baker (Agder University College, Kristiansand),
* Youssouf Diallo (Max-Planck-Institut für ethnologische Forschung, Halle),
* Patricia Daley (Oxford University),
* Jens Andersson (Wageningen University Research Centre) and
* staff members of the African Studies Centre, Leiden
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Mobility has always been an integral feature of the lives and strategies of people in Africa. The unstable nature of environmental conditions in most of the continent forces people to move periodically to look for better land, pastures and other basic necessities. For centuries Africans have been travelling over the continent and have come into contact with people from other societies and areas. Numerous strangers have settled among others and have adapted to new situations.
During this one-day seminar we want to explore these processes, and look at population mobility not only as an anomaly, but also as a central and recurrent aspect of life in Africa. The focus will be on the factors that form the impetus behind current population mobility. The presentations will address topics such as the situation of migrants and refugees, and the ways in which they are adopted in African rural and urban societies. What kind of innovative strategies do they develop in this process? Which economic activities do they undertake? Neither should we forget the socio-cultural dimensions of these processes of mobility. What influence does mobility have on all kind of organizational and cultural dimensions of a given society? How do people deal with the continuous absence of a considerable part of the population? How do they change socially and culturally in their new settings?
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