The purpose of this paper was to examine the meanings of labor migration in South Africa and its influences on family life and local community through the case of Keate’s Drift, Province of KwaZulu-Natal. Because of ecological pressure, many of the economically active population in Keate’s Drift depart for urban areas or bigger towns to get a job. Their labor migration strongly has the character as a life process enforced by the social structure which was formed through the colonial epoch. Most residents have been involved in various economic activities in other areas to improve the living standard of their families. For them, labor migration has complex meanings, including rite of passage, habitus, survival strategy and insurance. They partly serve both their household economy and the development of the local community. However, we are able to find negative aspects from another face of labor migration. It seems that it is still far off for them to cut the chain of poverty, although many people have determined and carried out labor migration over generations. Labor migration may be a trap which ties up their lives. Long labor migration stirs up husbands’ or wives’ infidelity, brings about diverse problems in the process of raising children, and has negative effects on the emotional bonds between parents and children. In the community level, the dependence on remittances hinders people in escaping from their inertia, and the outflux of both young and middle-aged people is resulted in the loss of the pivotal manpower necessary for local development. Furthermore, several problems, which come about in each family due to labor migration, are often linked to the disharmony between the dwellers. Especially, the problem of those children who are afflicted with poverty and lack of affection demands urgently the discussion and awakening in the local level. The reproduction of poverty, conjugal problems, the weakening of the emotional bonds between parents and children and the problems in the community level are a dark self-portrait of labor migration. Moreover, the impoverishment of the rural area (the periphery), which results from the labor migration system, strongly has the character of domination and exploitation by the urban area (the center). Hence, in the whole context, labor migration in South Africa can be considered as a paradoxical phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the meanings of labor migration in South Africa and its influences on family life and local community through the case of Keate’s Drift, Province of KwaZulu-Natal. Because of ecological pressure, many of the economically active population in Keate’s Drift depart for urban areas or bigger towns to get a job. Their labor migration strongly has the character as a life process enforced by the social structure which was formed through the colonial epoch. Most residents have been involved in various economic activities in other areas to improve the living standard of their families. For them, labor migration has complex meanings, including rite of passage, habitus, survival strategy and insurance. They partly serve both their household economy and the development of the local community. However, we are able to find negative aspects from another face of labor migration. It seems that it is still far off for them to cut the chain of poverty, although many people have determined and carried out labor migration over generations. Labor migration may be a trap which ties up their lives. Long labor migration stirs up husbands’ or wives’ infidelity, brings about diverse problems in the process of raising children, and has negative effects on the emotional bonds between parents and children. In the community level, the dependence on remittances hinders people in escaping from their inertia, and the outflux of both young and middle-aged people is resulted in the loss of the pivotal manpower necessary for local development. Furthermore, several problems, which come about in each family due to labor migration, are often linked to the disharmony between the dwellers. Especially, the problem of those children who are afflicted with poverty and lack of affection demands urgently the discussion and awakening in the local level. The reproduction of poverty, conjugal problems, the weakening of the emotional bonds between parents and children and the problems in the community level are a dark self-portrait of labor migration. Moreover, the impoverishment of the rural area (the periphery), which results from the labor migration system, strongly has the character of domination and exploitation by the urban area (the center). Hence, in the whole context, labor migration in South Africa can be considered as a paradoxical phenomenon.

본 논문의 목적은 키츠 드리프트의 사례를 통해서 남아공의 노동 이주 현상이 어떤 의미를 지니고 있으며, 이것이 가족생활과 지역 공동체에 어떤 영향을 미쳐 왔는지를 검토해보는 데 있었다. 이를 위해 필자는 첫째, 키츠 드리프트 타운과 조사 대상자를 개관했다. 둘째, 노동 이주의 사회․경제적 의미를 살펴보았다. 셋째, 노동 이주가 가족생활과 지역 공동체에 미치고 있는 부정적 영향을 고찰했다. 생태적 압박이 심한 키츠 드리프트에서는 경제활동 인구의 상당수가 일거리를 찾기 위해 대도시나 보다 큰 타운으로 떠난다. 그들의 노동 이주는 개인의 ‘자발적 선택’이라기보다는 식민지 시대를 거치면서 형성된 사회구조에 의해 ‘강요된 선택’이라는 측면이 강하다. 키츠 드리프트 주민들 중의 대다수는 가족의 생활수준을 향상시키고자 고향을 떠나 타지에서 경제활동을 해 왔다. 그들에게 있어서 노동 이주는 통과의례, 아비투스, 생존 전략, 보험 등의 복합적 의미를 지닌다. 그들은 노동 이주를 통해서 가족 경제와 지역 공동체의 발전에 일정 부분 기여하기도 한다. 그러나 노동 이주의 또 다른 모습에는 부정적 측면이 도사리고 있다. 수많은 사람들이 누대에 걸쳐 노동 이주를 해 왔음에도 불구하고, 그들이 빈곤의 사슬을 끊어내는 것은 요원한 일로 보인다. 어쩌면 노동 이주는 그들의 삶을 옭아매는 ‘하나의 덫’일지도 모른다. 장기간의 노동 이주는 남편이나 부인의 부정을 부채질하고, 자녀 양육 과정에서 적잖은 문제를 야기하며, 부모와 자식 간의 정서적 유대에도 부정적인 영향을 미친다. 공동체 수준에서 볼 때 송금에 대한 의존은 주민들을 타성에 젖도록 하고, 청․장년층의 이출은 지역 개발에 필요한 추동력의 상실을 초래한다. 그리고 노동 이주로 인해 개별 가족에서 발생하는 문제는 주민들 간의 불화로 종종 이어지기도 한다. 특히 빈곤과 애정 결핍에 시달리는 아동들의 문제는 지역 공동체 수준에서의 논의와 각성이 절실히 요구된다. 이와 같이 빈곤의 재생산, 부부간의 문제, 부모와 자식 간의 정서적 유대 약화, 공동체 수준의 문제 등은 노동 이주의 어두운 자화상이다. 게다가 순환적 노동 이주 체계에 따른 농촌 지역(주변부)의 피폐화는 도시 지역(중심부)의 ‘지배’와 ‘착취’라는 성격을 강하게 띠고 있다. 그래서 전체적인 맥락에서 볼 때 남아공에서의 노동 이주는 하나의 ‘역설적 현상’으로 보인다. 이러한 현상은 남아공의 사회․경제․정치적 문제가 어떤 식으로 해결되느냐에 따라서 그 빛깔을 달리할 것으로 보인다.

노동 이주, 키츠 드리프트, 남아공, 가족생활, 지역 공동체, 역설적 현상