Ghanaian Migrants in London Prosper Price Delali Asima
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CONTINUITIES AND DISCONTINUITIES IN GENDER IDEOLOGIES AND RELATIONS: GHANAIAN MIGRANTS IN LONDON PROSPER PRICE DELALI ASIMA Thesis submitted for the degree of Dphil School of Global Studies University of Sussex August 2010 i STATEMENT I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature: ………………………………………. ii UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX PROSPER PRICE DELALI ASIMA DPhil Migration Studies CONTINUITIES OR DISCONTINUITIES IN GENDER IDEOLOGIES AND RELATIONS: GHANAIAN MIGRANTS IN LONDON SUMMARY This thesis examines the interrelationship between migration and gender, exploring the migration trajectory of Ghanaians in London from their motivation to migrate, their settlement patterns and their transnational activities. The study specifically investigates two main questions: firstly, if and how patriarchal gendered ideologies and relations are influenced by the new migration space and how gender interacts with other social differences (e.g. class, nationality, education, legal status) to reconfigure gendered patterns of behaviour in the country of destination? Secondly, how do gender ideologies and practices influence the maintenance of transnational links with migrants’ home country and vice versa? The study adopts a multi-sited ethnographic approach to gain an insight into the experiences of migrants. It demonstrates that paid employment, contextual factors and social differentials simultaneously reinforce and transform patriarchal gender relations in different social spaces. The thesis argues that the international division of labour, institutional challenges and socio-economic factors in the new social space of London provide different dilemmas for migrants. These opportunities and constraints lead to contestations and renegotiations which require that migrants reconcile earning with caring. This in turn leads to changes in the relative power and status of women and men in the host country. This study distinguishes the factors leading to gains and losses; shows that Ghanaian migrants are gendered actors; and contributes to disaggregating the persistence or transformations in patriarchal gender relations. The man’s position as the breadwinner is often significantly challenged undermining his patriarchal authority in the household. Ghanaian women on the other hand have often been able to gain new access to resources, make life choices and participate in decision making in the households thereby being empowered across space and time. The study contributes to current understanding of empowerment processes by focusing on the role of men in this process, maintaining that socio-cultural and economic factors impact the lives and activities of male and female migrants differentially, reconfiguring patriarchal hierarchies and levelling power relations and decision making processes to more egalitarian patterns. It also argues that the formation of transnational families as a result of ‘split marriages’ and children being sent back to the origin country for fostering leads to different gendered outcomes for migrant and non-migrant women, men and children. The study shows that responsibility for production, reproduction and socialisation is divided across national borders, with the performance of financial, emotional and practical support, decision making patterns and power relations negotiated in the transnational social space. The study contributes to deepening understanding of the critical nature of the interplay of the private and public spheres in gender dynamics and its interrelationship with migration, and also demonstrates that childcare has a significant impact on the caring and earning roles of parents, the organisation of households and enhancement of gender equality. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….1 1.1 Gender……………………………………………………………………….......4 1.1.1 Social relations and symbolic dimensions of gender………………….5 1.2 The Household…………………………………………………………………..6 1.3 Gender Inequalities/ Patriarchy…………………………………………...........11 1.4 Gender and Migration………………………………………………………….14 1.4.1 Bringing women in…………………………………………………...15 1.4.2 Movement from women to Gender in migration studies…………….17 1.4.3 Empowerment………………………………………………………..17 1.4.4 Allocative Systems…………………………………………………...21 1.5 Gender and Transnationalism………………………………………………….22 1.5.1 Dislocations…………………………………………………………..26 1.5.2 Segmented Assimilation……………………………………………...28 1.6 Thesis Outline………………………………………………………………….29 CHAPTER TWO: SETTING THE CONTEXT……………………………..................34 2.1 Political History, Economic development and Migration in Ghana…………...35 2.2 The Ghanaian migrant population……………………………………………...38 2.2.1 Ghanaian migrants in London………………………………………..40 2.3 Situating Gender in Migration Research in Ghana…………………………….41 2.4 Labour Market in Ghana……………………………………………………….44 2.4.1 Formal Sector………………………………………………………...44 2.4.2 Informal Sector……………………………………………………….46 2.5: Gender relations in Ghana……………………………………………………..47 2.5.1 The Ghanaian household……………………………………………..48 2.5.2 The Kingship System………………………………………………...50 2.5.3 Inheritance……………………………………………………………51 2.5.4 The extended family system………………………….........................53 2.6 Labour Market in London………………………………………………….......55 2.6.1 Women……………………………………………………………….56 2.6.2 Men…………………………………………………………………..57 2.6.3 Employment………………………………………………………….58 iv 2.6.4 Migrants in the labour Market………………………………………..59 2.7 Gender Relations in London…………………………………………………...60 2.7.1 Breadwinning………………………………………………………...60 2.7.2 Domestic Division of Labour………………………………………...62 2.7.3 Singleness…………………………………………………………….64 2.8 Welfare State…………………………………………………………………...64 2.8.1 Eligibility Criteria……………………………………………………66 2.8.2 Parental/Maternity Leave…………………………………………….67 2.8.3 Social Housing……………………………………………………….67 2.8.4 Provision for Childcare………………………………………………67 2.8.5 Development of Flexibility…………………………………………..68 2.9 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..69 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS………………………71 3.1 Qualitative Research…………………………………………………………...71 3.1.1 Using Ethnography for migration research…………………………..72 3.2 Choosing the community and Access………………………………………….73 3.2.1 Arriving in London and Negotiating Access………………………...76 3.2.2 Sampling techniques………………………………………………....78 3.3 Methods of data collection…………….……………………………………….79 3.3.1 Interviews…………………………………………………………….79 3.3.2 Participant observation……………………………………………….82 3.3.3 Focus group discussions……………………………………………...83 3.4 Participant Profiles……………………………………………………………..85 3.4.1 London……………………………………………………………….85 3.4.2 Urban Southern Ghana……………………………………………….91 3.5 Ethical Issues …………………………………………………………………..95 3.5.1 Informed consent/ Confidentiality and Anonymity …………………95 3.5.2 Representation………………………………………………………..97 3.5.3 Positioning the researcher - Insider/Outsider?.....................................98 3.5.4 Reflections of a male researcher……………………………………102 3.6 Data Analysis ………………………………………………………………...104 3.7 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………105 v CHAPTER FOUR: NEGOTIATING GENDER RELATIONS IN URBAN SOUTHERN GHANA……………………………………….………………..107 4.1 Gender relations in the household ……………………………………….…...108 4.1.1 Household Work……………………………………………………108 4.1.2 Participation in decision making……………………………………113 4.2 Gender and Children………………………………………………………….120 4.2.1 Socialisation of boys and girls……………………………………...120 4.2.2 Management of childcare…………………………………………...122 4.3 Gender and the labour market………………………………………………...124 4.4 Household fiscal expenditure and decision-making………………………….129 4.4.1 Male contribution expenditure type (MCE)………………………...130 4.4.2 Female contribution expenditure type (FCE) ………………………133 4.4.3 Hidden contribution expenditure type (HCE)………………………137 4.4.4 Joint contribution expenditure type (JCE)………………………….139 4.5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….141 CHAPTER FIVE: BREADWINNING AND WORK: GENDERED DIASPORIC CHOICES AND MOBILITY IN THE LABOUR MARKET………………………………………………………………………………...144 5.1 Decision making on Breadwinning and Employment………………………..146 5.2 The Labour Market…………………………………………………………...149 5.2.1 Women in the labour market………………………………………..149 5.2.2 Men in the labour market…………………………………………...156 5.2.3 Racialized Labour market…………………………………………..161 5.2.4 Language……………………………………………………………165 5.3 Consequences of Entering the Labour Market………………………………..166 5.3.1 Breadwinning: Responsibility for household expenditure………….166 5.3.2 Household fiscal expenditure and Decision making ……………….169 5.3.3 Diasporic masculinity – Boys/ Men or Women?...............................173 5.4 Welfare ……………………………………………………………………….177 5.5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….179 CHAPTER SIX: DIASPORIC GENDER RELATIONS……………………………..182 6.1 Housework...………………………………………………………………….184 6.1.1 Shopping……………………………………………………………189 vi 6.2 Management of Childcare…………………………………………….............191 6.3 Participation in decision-making……………………………………………...195 6.3.1 Number of Children………………………………………………...196 6.3.2 Discipline…………………………………………………………...197 6.3.3 Remittances…………………………………………………………199 6.3.4 Authority/control of household head…………….…………………201 6.4 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………...208 CHAPTER 7: “BÜRGER AWARIΕ” (BÜRGER MARRIAGES) – NEGOTIATING GENDER RELATIONS IN TRANSNATIONALISM…………………………………………………………….211 7.1 Decision to Separate in split households….………………………… ……….212 7.2 Communication in split households………………………………… ……….215 7.3 Gendered Division of Labour in split