Menu Expand

Development and Diaspora: Ghana and its Migrants

Cite JOURNAL ARTICLE

Style

Nieswand, B. Development and Diaspora: Ghana and its Migrants. Sociologus, 59(1), 17-31. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.59.1.17
Nieswand, Boris "Development and Diaspora: Ghana and its Migrants" Sociologus 59.1, , 17-31. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.59.1.17
Nieswand, Boris: Development and Diaspora: Ghana and its Migrants, in: Sociologus, vol. 59, iss. 1, 17-31, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.59.1.17

Format

Development and Diaspora: Ghana and its Migrants

Nieswand, Boris

Sociologus, Vol. 59 (2009), Iss. 1 : pp. 17–31

15 Citations (CrossRef)

Additional Information

Article Details

Pricing

Author Details

1Boris Nieswand, Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung multireligiöser und multiethnischer Gesellschaften (MMG), Abteilung für soziokulturelle Vielfalt, Hermann-Föge-Weg 11, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.

Cited By

  1. “A Lot of Ghanaians Really Don’t Understand the Work We Do” – Cultural Adaptations and Barriers in Ghanaian Psychotherapy Practice

    Dzokoto, Vivian | Anum, Adote | Affram, Adjeiwa Akosua | Agbavitoh, Joseph K. M. | Dadzie, Henrietta A. | Mintah, Rebecca Korantemah | Norman, Queen Angela | Owusu-Prempeh, Cecilia | Tawam, Louis N. | Turkson, Sarah M. | Osei-Tutu, Annabella

    International Perspectives in Psychology, Vol. 11 (2022), Iss. 1 P.28

    https://doi.org/10.1027/2157-3891/a000015 [Citations: 4]
  2. The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology

    Transnationalism

    Knörr, Jacqueline

    2018

    https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea1980 [Citations: 1]
  3. Channels for Financial and Non-financial Remittances from the Ghanaian Diaspora toward Development

    Coffie, Amanda

    Revue internationale de politique de développement, Vol. 14 (2022), Iss.

    https://doi.org/10.4000/poldev.4818 [Citations: 1]
  4. Flexible Politics of Belonging: Diaspora Mobilisation in Ghana

    Kleist, Nauja

    African Studies, Vol. 72 (2013), Iss. 2 P.285

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00020184.2013.812883 [Citations: 13]
  5. Collective Remittances and Migrant-State Collaboration in Mexico and El Salvador

    Burgess, Katrina

    Latin American Politics and Society, Vol. 54 (2012), Iss. 4 P.119

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2012.00175.x [Citations: 23]
  6. Banal diasporic nationalism: Ghana@50 celebrations in Berlin

    Nieswand, Boris

    Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 35 (2012), Iss. 11 P.1874

    https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.607505 [Citations: 3]
  7. Urban Life-Worlds in Motion: In Africa and Beyond

    Hahn, Hans Peter

    Africa Spectrum, Vol. 45 (2010), Iss. 3 P.115

    https://doi.org/10.1177/000203971004500306 [Citations: 9]
  8. Unpacking the Diaspora Channel in New Democracies: When Do Migrants Act Politically Back Home?

    Burgess, Katrina

    Studies in Comparative International Development, Vol. 49 (2014), Iss. 1 P.13

    https://doi.org/10.1007/s12116-014-9151-5 [Citations: 51]
  9. ‘Giving back’ through mobility trajectories: motivations for engaging in development encounters in Ghana among transnational youth

    Akom Ankobrey, Gladys | Mazzucato, Valentina | Wagner, Lauren B.

    Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 48 (2022), Iss. 9 P.2018

    https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2021.1959304 [Citations: 8]
  10. Anthropological Perspectives on Care

    The Temporality of Care: Gender, Migration, and the Entrainment of Life-Courses

    Coe, Cati

    2015

    https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137513441_9 [Citations: 7]
  11. Diasporic Citizenship under Debate

    Schramm, Katharina

    Current Anthropology, Vol. 61 (2020), Iss. S22 P.S210

    https://doi.org/10.1086/709745 [Citations: 8]
  12. Borderdispositifsand border effects. Exploring the nexus between transnationalism and border studies

    Nieswand, Boris

    Identities, Vol. 25 (2018), Iss. 5 P.592

    https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2018.1507960 [Citations: 7]
  13. Super-diverse migrants—similar trajectories? Ghanaian entrepreneurship in the Netherlands seen from a Mixed Embeddedness perspective

    Kloosterman, Robert C. | Rusinovic, Katja | Yeboah, David

    Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 42 (2016), Iss. 6 P.913

    https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2015.1126091 [Citations: 55]
  14. Why do people do stuff? Reconceptualizing remittance behaviour in diaspora-development research and policy

    Page, Ben | Mercer, Claire

    Progress in Development Studies, Vol. 12 (2012), Iss. 1 P.1

    https://doi.org/10.1177/146499341101200101 [Citations: 51]
  15. Racial Profiling on the U-Bahn: Policing the Berlin Gap in the Schönefeld Airport Refugee Crisis

    Stokes, Lauren

    Central European History, Vol. 56 (2023), Iss. 2 P.236

    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008938922001054 [Citations: 0]

Abstract

The recent emphasis on the link between development and diasporic activities does not only reflect social changes, like the increase in migrant remittances, but also facilitates the building of institutions for the political and social inclusion of migrants in their country of origin. This article shows that the Ghanaian “diaspora” is not a social unit that predated the new discourse on transcontinental labour migration but rather emerged in its course. Institutional slots were created for Ghanaian migrant associations and individuals in the receiving countries to act as representatives of the Ghanaian “diaspora”. In this framework transnational development rituals have become an important means for legitimising migrant organisations and their claims to political participation in their country of origin. The postcolonial imaginary of development and its icons, in particular hospitals, schools and public infrastructure, provide a symbolical background against which migrants and state representatives re-negotiate questions of social status, citizenship and identity. The symbolical power of the discourse of development and diaspora helps to reconfigure older discourses of belonging and citizenship and to adapt them to the conditions of transnational mass migration.

Zusammenfassung

Entwicklung und Diaspora: Ghana und seine Migranten

Die aktuelle Diskussion über den Einfluss von Migranten auf die Entwicklung ihres Herkunftslandes reflektiert nicht nur veränderte gesellschaftlichen Realitäten, sondern schafft gleichzeitig auch Partizipationsmöglichkeiten, innerhalb derer die Inklusion von Migranten in ihr Herkunftsland erst hergestellt wird. Die “ghanaische Diaspora” ist, wie anhand des Falles von Ghanaern in Deutschland gezeigt wird, keine an sich existierende soziale Einheit, sondern formierte sich erst im Zuge der Neubewertung von transnationaler Migration aus Ghana. Diaspora-Politiken kreieren soziale Räume für Migrantenorganisationen und Individuen, innerhalb derer sie als legitime Repräsentanten der Migranten in den Zuwanderungsländern agieren können. Kollektive Entwicklungsrituale sind in diesem Kontext von besonderer Bedeutung. Sie legitimieren Migrantenorganisationen und deren Ansprüche auf politische und soziale Teilhabe im Herkunftsland. Der postkoloniale ghanaische Entwicklungsdiskurs und seine modernistischen Symbole, insbesondere Krankenhäuser, Schulen und öffentliche Infrastruktur, liefern einen symbolischen Hintergrund, der es Migranten in Ghana ermöglicht, sozialen Status, Bürgerrechte und Identitäten neu zu verhandeln. In diesem Sinne trägt die Debatte über den Zusammenhang von Entwicklung und Migration dazu bei, Zugehörigkeiten umzudefinieren und an die gesellschaftlichen Bedingungen von transnationaler Massenmigration anzupassen.