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 editors: Salmi, Jelena
Journal or series: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
ISSN: 1369-183X
eISSN: 1469-9451
Publication year: 2025
Publication date: 19/12/2023
Volume: 51
Issue number: 3
Pages range: 898-914
Publisher: Routledge
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2023.2295236
Publication open access: Not 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.
Keywords: climate; climate changes; agriculture; government policy
Free keywords: aspirations; climate change; India; agriculture; government policy
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- Sustainable Livelihoods and Politics at the Margins: Environmental Displacement in South Asia
- Tenhunen, Sirpa
- Research Council of Finland
Ministry reporting: Yes
VIRTA submission year: 2023
JUFO rating: 3