The tonic for society's development from time immemorial has been sociality. As society evolved, men and women inevitably enter into relationships independent and indispensable to their needs. More often than not this relationship is fueled by culture, tradition, history, as well as economic considerations. Thus, the problem this chapter grapples with (in the drama of J. P. Clark) is the causative factors of the migration coupled with the social and economic impacts thereof. This discourse further examines the intrigues of equality and the resultant conflict that induced the migration of the wives in protest as well as the implications for the larger society. The findings include the fact that the consequences of such conflict induced migration are as dire as what induced it in the first instance. In conclusion, the discourse recommends that that there is the urgent need to address conflict-induced migration in vulnerable societies before they snowball into issues of migration.
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It is not debatable as to whether conflict can induce migration. In fact, nature itself is constituted on a conflictual basis. For instance, male/female; arable/desert; sick/healthy; tall/short; white/black; fat/thin, etc. Indeed migration of any sort has and leaves impacts in its trail. For instance, the recent conflict in the middle east particularly Syria, Iraq and Yemen which has caused many people in those countries to migrate to other regions like Europe, has multiple social and economic impacts on the affected countries. For instance, the human resources are depleted, economy begins to nosedive and social infrastructure like schools, hospitals, roads and utilities become under utilised. But why the choice of Europe? This in itself is particularly mind boggling since other nearby countries would have readily seem agreeable. Nonetheless, the countries where we these migrants left surely would suffer some social and economic impacts since the majority of the migrants are children and youths- potential and able bodied hands that can contribute to the growth of any society. In Africa conflict continue to induce migration central Africa. In Nigeria, since 2009 when the Boko Haram conflict in the north eastern region expanded to the frontiers of Chad, Niger and Cameroun, the conflict has continued to impact the region socially and economically following the migration of people into neighbouring states. Nigeria’s middle belt has also had its fair share of conflict induced migration; a share that seems endless sparking a proliferation of internally displaced people camp [IDP].
This chapter focuses on the social and economic impacts of conflict induced migration in J. P Clark’s The Wives’ Revolt and uses the play as an analytical case study into resonaces and reflections of conflict induced migration in the larger society. In addition, the objectives here are threefold: First, migration is almost always conflict induced [whether the inducing conflict is latent or active]; second, there are indeed social and economic impacts of conflict induced migration which largely borders on development; and thirdly, the fact that when writers write they write society into their works such as the trappings of globalisation.