FAMILIAL ADAPTATIONS TO THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF ...

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(and child) labour remains oriented towards subsistence
are
production.
being only
Women
partially absorbed into the monetized sector
as a
of
result
the
of
economy
male labour shortage, while continuing
power
to reproduce
at below
labour
its exchange value, thereby continuing to
accumulation.
subsidize capital
For example, in the Upper Egyptian villages
Hagara,
of Beit
where
Alam
male
and
outmigration ranges between 50
economically
and 75% of
active
the
men, labour shortages and dramatic
have
increases
accentuated
in wages
dependence on the unpaid family labour of wnmen and
children (Hammam 1981:10).
A noticeable social consequence of male migration from rural Egypt is
the increased incidence of female-headed households. A recent study of this
phenomenon was undertaken by anthropologists in the village of Babel Wa Kafr
Hamam in Menoufia Governorate (Khattab and El Daeif 1982). Based on case
studies of a small sample of 15 labour migrant families and five non-migrant
families, the researchers note a trend towards the dissolution of patrilocal
residence patterns, a related emergence of nuclear families among the labour
migrants' kin, and the increasing appearance of female-headed households
upon departure of males. Similar changes are reported for joint families
and nuclear families that shared common housing.
In the village of Bahiya, as earnings from abroad
perceived
are increasingly
to be the sole means for social mobility,
extended
kinship
family
ties based
property
on
relations are undermined. The
dissolution
tendency towards
of the extended family has also been
should
observed
be
in
noted,
Bahiya.
however,
It
that the extent of this tendency
peasants'
carries with
class position, related property relati.ls,
the extended
and contributions
family labour
to
pool at different phases of the
cycle
developmental
of the family. The tendency is also variable
sources
in relation
of livelihood
to primary
of migrating men. Among non-agricultural
dwellers such
rural
as teachers or those involved in non-agricultural
activities, commercial
the tendency towards the dissolution of
intensifies
extended
in
families
relation to migration. But, even in
relations
such cases,
influence
property
couples' decisions. Indeed, in some cases
family
extended
membership is a welcome form of familial adjustment
economic
which
as well
provides
as emotional security, at least immediately
migrant
following
male's departure.
the
Contributions to the financing
to
of
the
a male's
PPC may
trip
come not only from nuclear family members (e.g.
wife's
the
jewelry),
sale of a
but also from the savings of others in the
household,
extended family
and from affinal kin. Extended family and affines may continue
to be a source of support during the male's absence.
Where the extended family as a household is dissolved
emigration,
a correlate
the
of
power of the mother-in-law is undermined.
authority of
Similarly,
senior females
the
in joint family households is challenged.
Khattab and El Daeif's study reveals that