A1 Journal article (refereed)
Intermittent mobility as a livelihood strategy for landless rural people in Andhra Pradesh (2025)


Salmi, J. (2025). Intermittent mobility as a livelihood strategy for landless rural people in Andhra Pradesh. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 51(3), 898-914. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2023.2295236


JYU authors or editors


Publication details

All authors or editorsSalmi, Jelena

Journal or seriesJournal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

ISSN1369-183X

eISSN1469-9451

Publication year2025

Publication date19/12/2023

Volume51

Issue number3

Pages range898-914

PublisherRoutledge

Publication countryUnited Kingdom

Publication languageEnglish

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2023.2295236

Publication open accessNot open

Publication channel open access

Publication is parallel published (JYX)https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/93740


Abstract

This article analyses the multiple causes and temporalities of mobility between the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai’s Madh Island in India. For several decades, the fisheries of Madh Island have been the destination of migrant workers from the rain-shadow region of Rayalaseema. Development practitioners, researchers, and the media have generally addressed migration from Rayalaseema in the context of droughts. Problematizing narratives focused on exceptional weather events, I suggest that for landless lower-caste people, who constitute the majority of migrants, everyday life is characterized by stable instability related to climate, government policy, land ownership patterns, and the vagaries of informal work. Disrupting conventional binaries between forced/voluntary movement and temporary/permanent migration, I develop the notion of intermittent mobility to characterize how migrants creatively combine urban and rural opportunities in their efforts to live with multicausal stable instability and build a better future for their children. Intermittent mobility as a rhythm of life reflects not only migrants’ strategic intentionality but also their position within a field of unequal power relations; while generated by structural vulnerability, mobility can be an important source of intergenerational resilience.


Keywordsclimateclimate changesagriculturegovernment policy

Free keywordsaspirations; climate change; India; agriculture; government policy


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Related projects


Ministry reportingYes

VIRTA submission year2023

JUFO rating3


Last updated on 2025-25-01 at 20:25