On To A Bigger Place

Modern MigrationI was inspired by The Grapes of Wrath and by our class discussion, to explore migration to cities (similar to migration in America during the Great Depression) in other continents. Though we may never see car/trucks with mattresses on the back speeding down the highway in America anymore, the phenomenon of migration to cities for the purpose of finding a better and more prosperous life, is still common in many poor countries around the world.

I have chosen to focus on Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, in which farmers and others living in rural areas are greatly affected by the unpredictable West African climate. There have been numerous year when rainfall decreases and Malian farmers find themselves in similar situations to the farmers of SouthWest during the American Great Depression of the 1930's, when the farmland of that region became a dustbowl. In these cases, mass migration towards Bamako in particular, and other smaller cities has ben documented. Malian farmers leave their homes to earn money as laborers and support their families, many of whom have remained on the farms. These farmers hope to return during the rainy season to profit from the regeneration of their land.

However, in Mali mass migration has been regular during dry seasons for over two centuries, and in America, especially the America of the 30's portrayed by Steinbeck, mass migration was a new phenomenon. So why was migration so uncommon before the depression? One possible answer is that the United States is not afflicted by the same severe weather patterns as West Africa, and people have less of a reason to leave their homes. Another answer is that Americans have never been displaced by war in their own country (except perhaps some during the civil war and revolution), whereas Malians have been migrating to escape violence for hundreds of years. Another possible reason is that the US economy was, until the Depression, relatively stable, and remained stable for years after. The Malian economy is very weak, with over 80% of Malians relying on the agricultural system for income.

Another question that must be posed is why have Americans, especially farmers such as the Joads, been able to come out of the depression with greater determination to not let such an economic catastrophe touch them again? And why have Malians been migarting to and from cities for centuries, without changing the pattern? Certainly technology plays a great role in this, as does climate (once again) and the fact that the US government even during economic depressions, has still had more resources to devote to jump starting the economy than a country like Mali.

So America was lucky, and we look back at the Depression as a dark time in our history, when so many were displaced and unemployed and generally miserable. However we ought not to forget that the Great Depression exists in perpetual forms throughout the world today.