People's ability to move is highly regulated, though often in ways they are unaware of: vehicle registration, licenses, IDs, passports, permits, policing, stop signs, the tarring of roads, etc. But economic and political crises can suddenly harden these forms of regulation. How are people's conceptions of mobility, governance, and citizenship expressed and transformed in the face of constant and immediate regulation? This project, which trains a graduate student in how to conduct rigorous, scientifically grounded fieldwork, examines what factors contribute to effective citizen/state relations and governance in the wake of economic crisis.
Stanford University doctoral candidate, Kathryn Takabvirwa, under the supervision of Dr. James Ferguson, will explore how regulators and regulated navigate government regulatory projects designed to restrict mobility following an economic crisis. Zimbabwe presents an ideal site for the nexus of citizenship and legality in the context of migration. The country is emerging from exceptional economic crisis which saw its inflation hit over 89 sextillion percent in 2008, and where a staggering 10% to 42% of the population exited the country and migrates regularly between Zimbabwe and neighboring countries like South Africa. Issues of global concern in an era of hyper-mobility are accentuated in such contexts. The researcher will explore these questions through a 13-month ethnographic study. Taking a multi-methods approach, the project uses both qualitative and quantitative data, employing participant observation, in-depth interviews, survey methods, archival work and material analysis. This study contributes to a better, more nuanced understanding of experiences in post-crisis societies. It advances understandings of how citizenship and sociality are forged in the spaces of citizen/state engagement in everyday life. It goes beyond conventional approaches that see developing countries as simply mired in corruption to empirically examine how policies and practices are actually experienced, and present a more nuanced understanding of citizenship and governance.
