Out of Eastern Africa: An Examination of Sport Labour Migration in the Post-Independence Era

Abstract

Globalization spearheaded professionalization and commercialization of sports, which has contributed and elevated sport labour migration out of Africa. People move far from their home base to improve their standards of living, form new identities, and to enhance national pride, which enabled many African men and women involved in elite sports to become an integral part of global sport competitions. This paper investigates factors that influenced the migration of athletes/players out of Eastern Africa and to understand their transnational experiences in a global context. The World System Theory, transnationalism and neoclassical theoretical perspectives guided this research in broad and specific contexts. Data sources included research journal articles, public government documents, theoretical and philosophical papers, newspapers, and internet documentaries that provide stories about sport migrants individually and as a collective group. Themes emerging from this study focus on the following: (a) patterns of migration, (b) factors that spearhead movement of sport migrants out of Eastern Africa and (c) transnational experiences with exemplifications.