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Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs Growing Up In Times Of Crisis: Negotiating Economic Constraints And Opportunities In Transnational Families Thesis How to cite: Boampong, Michael (2020). Growing Up In Times Of Crisis: Negotiating Economic Constraints And Opportunities In Transnational Families. PhD thesis Birkbeck, University of London. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2019 The Author Version: Version of Record Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk Growing up in times of crisis: Negotiating economic constraints and opportunities in transnational families 2020 Michael Boampong A thesis submitted to Birkbeck, University of London, for the partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Geography Word count: 93,027 1 Declaration I, Michael Boampong, declare that the work presented in this thesis is entirely my own except where referenced in the text and bibliography. This thesis‘ copyright rests with the author. Quotation from it is allowed, provided acknowledgement is made. I can confirm that parts of Chapter 5 have been published elsewhere. The full reference is: Boampong, M. (2019) ‗Transnational practices and children‘s local lives in times of economic crisis.‘ In Intersectionality and Difference in Childhood and Youth; edited by Nadia von Benzon and Catherine Wilkinson. London: Routledge. 2 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my academic supervisor, Karen Wells for her thought-provoking engagement and feedback regarding theoretical clarity and my empirical analysis. I consider myself truly blessed to have received regular intellectual guidance from Karen from my first day at Birkbeck College. I am equally grateful for other academic opportunities such as teaching, conference participation, as well as the encouragement and concern that I received regarding my welfare. Additionally, I am indebted to Jasmine Gideon for her direction which assisted me in shaping my thoughts during the initial phase of my research. Karen, Jasmine and other academics that I encountered in the past four years have helped to keep my research focused and challenged me to think deeper even when my understanding was unclear. My deepest appreciation also goes to all my research respondents who allowed me into their homes and shared their life experiences and dreams with me. In particular, I thank Emmanuel Kwesi Quayson, Auntie Gifty, Lord Adusei, Mr Owusu Ansah, Arnold, Collins, Gifty Frimpong, Felicia, Michael Mensah, Sam Appiah and Cathy. Many of these people introduced me to other Ghanaians in London and also their relatives in the USA and Ghana, thereby enabling me to reach more transnational Ghanaian households. All throughout the study, people generously spent several priceless hours with me because they believed in my research. I give heartfelt thanks to the Afoakwah family in Ghana who took me to various places in their community for interviews and exposed me to their day-to-day lives of waking up and going to the farm, for instance. I also give special thanks to Dr Adjei; after tiring fieldwork days, the house of the ‗Doctor‘ was truly a place for rest and reflection. I am also indebted to my parents, Mr and Mrs Boampong and my brother, George Boampong who have supported my educational aspirations since my childhood and were present with much-needed advice, encouragement and solidarity. Thank you also goes to the Department of Geography administration team, especially Hurmine who often offered assistance regarding institutional requirements when needed. My thanks to Noemi who promptly responded to my library needs. I wish to also thank Mary, Kajsa, Chiara, Isaac Osei Owusu, Lindsay, Andre, Heather, Rowan, Gavaza and Lauren for their comments on some of my initial drafts. 3 Finally, I would like to thank Pastor Sunday, Sister Abena, Sister Vida, Barbara, Michael Baodi, Joseph Boateng, Daniel Assamah and the Oppong family for their continuous encouragement and humour throughout this PhD journey. My research was generously funded by Birkbeck College‘s Anniversary Scholarship. My participation in conferences was also sponsored by the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy and the Department of Geography. This thesis is dedicated to the children and young people that were part of my study. I have always been inspired by their views and creativity and will forever remain a believer in the agency of children and young people. From the depth of my heart, I am grateful to every person and institution whose contribution has made this research possible. I hope to be able to support you in some other way in the near future. 4 Abstract In the past three decades, neoliberal development has intensified economic migration. Meanwhile in western countries, the political-economic landscape has changed following the 2007–8 global financial crisis. Despite increasing research on everyday family experiences regarding the financial crisis, its implications on transnational childhoods and social fields has been underresearched. Based on a multi-sited ethnographic study with 95 people (33 children, 22 young people and 40 adults) embedded in transnational social fields, this research explores the economic crisis‘ impact on social reproduction processes among Ghanaian-British transnational families. The study is inspired by Katz‘s notion of critical topography, which has the potential of revealing the effects of political-economic constraints on children and social reproduction. Qualitative methods, including repeated semi-structured interviews, observations and group discussions, as well as visual methods, were used to obtain children and other young people‘s transnational perspectives. To examine families‘ constraints and how such constraints and opportunities are dealt with, I will draw on three concepts: social reproduction; capital; and transnational social fields. Research findings indicate children and other young people are ‗doing family‘ through kinship and non-kinship relationships within a transnational and transglobal context in their quest to survive economic constraints. This can be seen in twofold: material social practices (e.g. resource flows) of survival and leveraging on capital to achieve life course aspirations. To understand this, the emplacement of ‗other‘ children and young people in surviving constraints and capital formation for the maintenance of transnational social fields is crucial. I will argue that children and young people‘s capital and network formation are important assets for their sustenance and reproduction of transnational families during crises. However, their emplacement reveals their vulnerability and agency which shapes transnational social fields. This study offers insights into Childhood Studies and theoretical debates on structure and agency as well as transnational childhoods. 5 Table of Contents Declaration .......................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 3 Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 5 List of Tables .................................................................................................................... 11 List of Figures ................................................................................................................... 12 List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ 13 Explanatory Notes ............................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................... 17 Transnational childhoods and family life trajectories ....................................................... 17 The missing transnational perspective .................................................................. 19 The transnational household or transnational family? Does it matter? ................. 25 Revisiting the relationship between social reproduction and migration ............... 29 Inequalities: temporality, the life-course, history and generation and transnationality ............................................................................................................................... 32 The meaning of crisis ............................................................................................ 34 Methodological innovations: multi-sited ethnographic techniques ...................... 36 Thesis overview .................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................... 40 Literature Review: Transnational Migration and Childhood, Social Reproduction and Economic Crisis ................................................................................................................ 40 Migration: theoretical and discursive shifts