Migration is often considered a form of climate change adaptation by which individuals, households, and communities seek to reduce the risks associated with climate change. In this study, we examine first-time seasonal migration out of a village in North-Western Burkina Faso to neighbouring countries, triggered by more irregular rainfall patterns. Through a set of 52 qualitative interviews, we analyse the perceptions of migrants themselves as well as the sending community regarding migration consequences. Men migrated in the off-season, whereas women stayed behind. Most migrant men and wives of migrants perceive migration to have negative consequences for their socio-economic situation and their health. Despite this, a lack of options and deteriorating environmental conditions might force the men to move again. We interpreted the range of narratives provided by women and men against the background of the scientific literature on migration as climate change adaptation. While migration could be beneficial, this study challenges the notion of migration as an effective adaptation strategy for people in climate-vulnerable settings, who lack other options.

T he apartheid system in South Africa lasted for forty-eight years before being abolished in 1994. Codified within the structure was economic and political discrimination that put the population into a hierarchy of four classified races: white, coloured, Indian and black. The outcome was a spatially and mentally divided society. Today, South Africa is faced with the task of levelling out not only economic inequalities but also psychological patterns related to race. In this research, I apply a life history approach to understand how it was to live during the transitional phase in South Africa. Inspired by critical race theory, I examine the various ways of experiencing transitional South Africa based on the narratives of seven research participants. I draw on Pierre Bourdieu's concept "doxa" to illustrate how, in their childhoods, participants took for granted racial segregation and the white supremacist ideology. Through a nuanced examination of the participants' struggle with the "hegemonic condition", I further illustrate that this acceptance played out in complex ways. I then turn to Victor Turner's theory of "liminality" to demonstrate how the post-apartheid space of uncertainty enabled individuals to challenge their commonsense assumptions so far. Throughout this paper, I show that the force of apartheid was so strong that mentalities were only able to shift following the dramatic political transformation of the abolition of apartheid.