Sino-African Migration And The Impact On Women: Anthropological And Sociological Research Between Ethiopia And Djibouti

Proceedings of The 6th International Academic Conference on Research in Social Sciences

Year: 2023

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/6th.iacrss.2023.03.004

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Sino-African Migration And The Impact On Women: Anthropological And Sociological Research Between Ethiopia And Djibouti

Erika Mattio

 

 

ABSTRACT: 

This article was made starting from the PhD research “The last roads of the Horn of Africa. The Chinese presence before and after Covid”. The goal of this project is to understand women’s impressions in relationships between Chinese and Africans and to compare their responses. Women are indirectly involved in the relational dynamics between China and Africa. The analysis presented aims to have a different point of view than that of men, which appears to be more related to economics and politics. In addition, the women interviewed belong to different social sitemes: Danacalian, Tigrine, European and Chinese; schooled and unschooled; working women or housewives. Their opinion analyzed through interviews and a narrative diary, opens up a view of Sino-African relations that is simpler and not tied to male impressions. The methodology used is qualitative: interviews and field research with the methodology of cultural anthropology. Data analysis and typical interpretation of labor solciology. The anthopology investigates the relationships between Chinese and Ethiopians to help the researcher understand how much the two cultures will integrate in the future. Specifically, the female figures are analysed, in order to have documentation of their condition, of relations with the Chinese. The basic question is therefore: in the near future will China and Africa be a single reality, or will the discrepancies between the two cultures make the Chinese project of the BRI difficult to implement? The sociology of work aims to analyze data and understand how much Chinese infrastructures cost China and what real benefits they bring to Africa, specifically in the Horn of Africa. Theoretical and fieldwork will also assist researchers in other fields, such as urban planning or engineering. The research is therefore useful for analyzing the new Chinese expansion phenomenon in Africa, the development of infrastructures and, in this analysis, the figure of women and their impressions. Is a fragment of in situ research carried out in January 2020 and a diary created with online interviews in 2023. Between 2022 and 2023 the survivors to the Ethiopian Civil War were traced thanks to social networks. The project is multidisciplinary: cultural anthropology, work sociology and mobile journalism.

keywords: China, Horn Africa, Woman studies, Work sociology, Sino-African migration