Abstract

Migration has been theorised as an act motivated by pull and push factors often linked to structural determinants of human behaviour. This article contributes to the critical literature on migration with its examination of individual accounts of migrations to South Africa. The present study utilises conversation analysis and discursive psychology to analyse five interviews with foreign nationals currently residing in South Africa. The findings suggest that individuals constructed accounts that oriented to their migration as a non-normative act, and provided no-fault accounts that eliminated desire and preference from their decision to migrate. In particular, participants routinely use the 'had-to' device as a method for constructing normative accounts of migration. These findings are significant because they demonstrate a participant orientation to migration as an accountable action, displaying some of the interactional practices for 'doing accounts' of migration that are both embedded in, and constitutive of, a shared moral order.

摘要

移民被理论化为一种由拉力和推力因素驱动的行为，这些因素通常与人类行为的结构性决定因素有关。本文通过对南非移民的个人账户的考察，为移民问题的批判文献做出了贡献。本研究利用对话分析和话语心理学来分析对目前居住在南非的外国人的五次采访。研究结果表明，个人构建的账户将其移民视为一种非规范行为，并提供无过错账户，消除了他们做出移民决定时的愿望和偏好。特别是，参与者经常使用“不得不”手段作为构建规范性移民账户的方法。