Who goes? Who stays back? Seasonal migration and staying put among rural manual workers in Eastern India

In Barddhaman District, West Bengal, India, large numbers of rice transplanters and harvesters are seasonal migrant workers, who are unable to make a living in their home areas. They often come from households where other members have stayed put. This paper illustrates the interdependence between those who move and those who stay. It also shows that structural factors, such as age, gender, class and ethnicity, though important, do not determine who migrates or who stays put in a particular season. Indeed, the paper raises questions about the very categories ‘migrant’ and ‘person who stays put’ in relation to seasonal migration. This is because such migration inevitably involves doing both; and because for some of those who move and stay for longer, lifeworlds are ‘stretched’ between places. Moreover, whether a person stays put or migrates varies over the life course. Ironically, perhaps, migration for arduous manual work away from home can be part of a struggle to be able to afford to stay put.