ABSTRACT
Traditionally, anthropologists studying migration tended to assume that the main determinants of observed migrant behavior were group-based cultural factors. In countries where food production is declining, the conditions under which rural institutions persist or change will have important consequences for agriculture. Migration has produced an apparent paradox in Etyolo: a situation of rapid and profound change which seems to have left village institutions largely untouched. Since the 1930's, Etyolo's villagers have used migration as a cash-earning strategy. Although the bulk of migration from Etyolo is seasonal, growing long-term movement has depleted the ranks of the younger village age-grades—up to 40 percent in some cases—and created large migrant communities in the towns. As migration developed, however, other outside influences became important for shaping its pattern. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
