Bridging through “women’s work”: African women and men chasing the rise of China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bodomo’s bridge theory describes and predicts the long-term implications of African migrants’ activities and settlement in China. Drawing on research with African retail traders, university students, and corporate executives in China, I show that the bridge theory illuminates how African women and men rationalize their decisions to migrate to China within the context of the rise of Asia. Drawing on the literature regarding African women and work, I explain that structural economic conditions now force more Africans into economic sectors such as trade work that historically were dominated by African women. I demonstrate that African women’s roles as economic providers for their families and children in other sectors, such as university students and company executives, provide evidence of the continued “matricentric” nature of African households that rely on women’s economic productivity. I also examine the possibilities and limitations of building long-standing networks that shape African migrant settlement in China. I show that the historical theorization that characterizes global mobility as male – particularly regarding Africans – has contributed to the misrecognition of African women’s multiple activities in China.