Rural-to-Urban Labor Migration, Household Livelihoods, and the Rural Environment in Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China

Rural migration and its relationship to the rural environment have attracted increasing research interest in recent decades. Rural migration constitutes a key component of human population movement, while rural areas contain most of the world’s natural resources such as land and forests. This study empirically evaluates a conceptual framework incorporating rural household livelihoods as an integrative mediating factor between rural migration and the rural environment in the context of rural-to-urban labor migration in Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China. The analysis draws on data collected through household surveys and key informant interviews from four villages. Results confirm the hypothesis that labor-migrant and non-labor-migrant households differ significantly in livelihood activities including agricultural production, agricultural technology use, income and consumption, and resource use and management. Implications for the subsequent environmental outcomes of rural labor out-migration and corresponding natural resource management and policy in rural origin areas are discussed

Conformers and pretenders: The case of middle class political opposition in Swaziland, 1962-2000

In both the colonial and post-colonial periods different segments of the Swazi population have expressed political ideals. Throughout these periods Swazi politics has been characterized by the dominance of traditional political culture, but different groups have from time to time expressed political views opposed to the traditional political perspective. This has been the case with those who have received western education and constitute the Swazi middle class. From soon after the Second World War this class has been vocal in advocating for a political dispensation opposed to traditional politics centred on the monarchy. Up to now no coherent study has attempted a critical analysis of middle class opposition politics in Swaziland. This is in spite of the fact that the middle class opposition has taken different interesting shades in both the colonial and post-colonial periods. This article focuses on this neglected but interesting subject as it brings out the real character of middle class political opposition in Swaziland. The article argues that middle class political opposition in Swaziland is not based on principles fundamentally different from those of traditional politics, but is largely shaped by the ambitions of the advocates to accumulate through the state pathway. LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol.3 () 2006: pp.235-25