African peasants on the move: Turmoil between global dynamics, migration and food insecurity

Abstract

The relations between global dynamics and internal dynamics in African societies can be regarded from a perspective of flow analysis, as loose bundles of flows that interact with each other. These in-flows and out-flows of different origins, directions and rates are affected by bottlenecks and other interferences resulting from interaction between them, causing turmoil and other unexpected effects. These irregular, non-linear flows comprise energy, information, money, people, and material. Global dynamics produce high-energy flows with a high rate of change, whilst flows in African societies, with the exception of violent conflicts, forced migration, etc., are usually, of low energy and slow change. They meet in a grey zone, where interactions are fuzzy and complex and produce ever-changing turmoil that engages the dynamics of society.