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Globalization, Imitation Behavior, and Refugees from Eritrea
Africa Today, Special Issue: Postliberation Eritrea (Winter 2013) (2013)
  • Assefaw Bariagaber
Abstract
Social scientists have argued that human beings imitate the behavior of others to maximize benefits and minimize costs; however, not much has been written on imitation behavior among refugees. I appeal to globalization and increased access to modern means of communication to argue that imitation does occur among them. I provide empirical support for refugee-imitation behavior through focus-group interviews with recent Eritrean refugees in the United States. I conclude that imitation is an important variable in explaining current and recent refugee movements from Eritrea and other countries in Africa. The explanatory power of the variable will increase with further expansion of modern means of communication.
Keywords
  • Refugees,
  • Political refugees,
  • Exile,
  • Globalization,
  • Cell phones,
  • International borders,
  • Internet,
  • Peacetime,
  • Observational learning,
  • Desire
Publication Date
Winter 2013
DOI
10.2979/africatoday.60.2.3
Citation Information
Assefaw Bariagaber. "Globalization, Imitation Behavior, and Refugees from Eritrea" Africa Today, Special Issue: Postliberation Eritrea (Winter 2013) Vol. 60 Iss. 2 (2013) p. 3 - 18
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/assefaw-bariagaber/8/