Unsettling the (dis)order: youth migration and the subversion of gender norms in Ethiopia

This article explores perceptions of gender norms change shaped by lived experiences of migration in Ethiopia. Drawing on interviews and focus group discussions with internal and transnational migrant youths living and working in Addis Ababa, this article links shifting attitudes around normative gender roles to spontaneous responses to marginalisation adopted by women, and reactionary disapproval proclaimed by men confronted with unemployment. Findings discussed show how women’s efforts in navigating everyday life through strategic income-generation and self-reliance are interpreted as transgressive by disenfranchised men when coupled with broadened claims to space and personal freedom. This article highlights the need for structural, gender-sensitive responses to shifting earning capabilities among migrant youth across the rural–urban divide in order to safeguard women’s rights as citizens across the Global South.