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Organised social networks and the positive resettlement of female forced migrants: A case study of the Scalabrini Women's Platform and Congolese women in Cape Town
This research assesses the potential of organised social networks to improve the resettlement of female forced migrants in their destination country. It looks more specifically at the impact of the Scalabrini women’s platform on women from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) experience in the c...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Political Studies
2020
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| _version_ | 1867614421997584384 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Assenza, Victoria |
| author2 | Akokpari, John |
| author_browse | Akokpari, John Assenza, Victoria |
| author_facet | Akokpari, John Assenza, Victoria |
| author_sort | Assenza, Victoria |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This research assesses the potential of organised social networks to improve the resettlement of female forced migrants in their destination country. It looks more specifically at the impact of the Scalabrini women’s platform on women from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) experience in the city of Cape Town. In the context of the DRC, forced migration includes movements caused by conflict, political instability and economic crises while post-apartheid South Africa offers peace, democracy and a stable economy in the Southern African region, although it is pervaded by a strong xenophobic sentiment towards black African foreigners. In addition to xenophobia and racism that linger in South Africa, women face gender-based inequalities and the barrier of language, placing them in a vulnerable position and exposing them to abuse and isolation. Organised social networks are understood as a source of social capital that improves lifestyle by limiting everyday challenges. Using the theory of embeddedness and immigration (Portes and Sensenbrenner, 1993), the Scalabrini women’s platform offers enforceable trust which provides economic resources in the form of knowledge and networks. Data was gathered through a review of the literature and semi-structured interviews with active members of the platform. This research finds that the creation of a gender-specific network, outside of the community and mainly within immigrants, indeed works towards building enforceable trust with limited negative effects, but challenges remain. It further identifies the link between unemployment and documentation as the main obstacle to women’s positive resettlement. The platform tackles the challenge of unemployment linked to documentation by providing professional skills and contacts. They are powerful tools to avoid the restricted access to formal employment by contributing to capacity-building and increasing chances of self-employment. Organised social networks do contribute to the positive resettlement of Congolese women in Cape Town, but exclusion and isolation remain. The creation of weak ties with the broader South African society appears as essential in response to the xenophobic discourse of the State and the media, especially in the absence of inclusive immigration laws. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31509 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:51:47.209Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateRange | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | Department of Political Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Political Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31509 Organised social networks and the positive resettlement of female forced migrants: A case study of the Scalabrini Women's Platform and Congolese women in Cape Town Assenza, Victoria Akokpari, John International Relations This research assesses the potential of organised social networks to improve the resettlement of female forced migrants in their destination country. It looks more specifically at the impact of the Scalabrini women’s platform on women from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) experience in the city of Cape Town. In the context of the DRC, forced migration includes movements caused by conflict, political instability and economic crises while post-apartheid South Africa offers peace, democracy and a stable economy in the Southern African region, although it is pervaded by a strong xenophobic sentiment towards black African foreigners. In addition to xenophobia and racism that linger in South Africa, women face gender-based inequalities and the barrier of language, placing them in a vulnerable position and exposing them to abuse and isolation. Organised social networks are understood as a source of social capital that improves lifestyle by limiting everyday challenges. Using the theory of embeddedness and immigration (Portes and Sensenbrenner, 1993), the Scalabrini women’s platform offers enforceable trust which provides economic resources in the form of knowledge and networks. Data was gathered through a review of the literature and semi-structured interviews with active members of the platform. This research finds that the creation of a gender-specific network, outside of the community and mainly within immigrants, indeed works towards building enforceable trust with limited negative effects, but challenges remain. It further identifies the link between unemployment and documentation as the main obstacle to women’s positive resettlement. The platform tackles the challenge of unemployment linked to documentation by providing professional skills and contacts. They are powerful tools to avoid the restricted access to formal employment by contributing to capacity-building and increasing chances of self-employment. Organised social networks do contribute to the positive resettlement of Congolese women in Cape Town, but exclusion and isolation remain. The creation of weak ties with the broader South African society appears as essential in response to the xenophobic discourse of the State and the media, especially in the absence of inclusive immigration laws. 2020-03-09T07:13:20Z 2020-03-09T07:13:20Z 2019 2020-03-06T13:41:33Z Master Thesis Masters MPolSci http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31509 eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | International Relations Assenza, Victoria Organised social networks and the positive resettlement of female forced migrants: A case study of the Scalabrini Women's Platform and Congolese women in Cape Town |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Organised social networks and the positive resettlement of female forced migrants: A case study of the Scalabrini Women's Platform and Congolese women in Cape Town |
| title_full | Organised social networks and the positive resettlement of female forced migrants: A case study of the Scalabrini Women's Platform and Congolese women in Cape Town |
| title_fullStr | Organised social networks and the positive resettlement of female forced migrants: A case study of the Scalabrini Women's Platform and Congolese women in Cape Town |
| title_full_unstemmed | Organised social networks and the positive resettlement of female forced migrants: A case study of the Scalabrini Women's Platform and Congolese women in Cape Town |
| title_short | Organised social networks and the positive resettlement of female forced migrants: A case study of the Scalabrini Women's Platform and Congolese women in Cape Town |
| title_sort | organised social networks and the positive resettlement of female forced migrants a case study of the scalabrini women s platform and congolese women in cape town |
| topic | International Relations |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31509 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT assenzavictoria organisedsocialnetworksandthepositiveresettlementoffemaleforcedmigrantsacasestudyofthescalabriniwomensplatformandcongolesewomenincapetown |