© COPYRIGHT by Micah M. Trapp 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SHADOW COLONY: REFUGEES AND THE PURSUIT OF THE LIBERIAN- AMERICAN DREAM BY Micah M. Trapp ABSTRACT This dissertation is about the people living at the Buduburam Liberian refugee camp in Ghana and how they navigate their position within a social hierarchy that is negotiated on a global terrain. The lives of refugees living in Ghana are constituted through vast and complex social relations that span across the camp, Ghana, West Africa and nations further afield such as the United States, Canada and Australia. The conditions under which these relations have developed and continue to unfold are mediated by structural forces of nation-state policies, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the international governing body for refugees, and the global political economy. Situated within the broader politics of protracted refugee situations and the question of why people stay in long-term camps, this research is a case study of one refugee camp and how its people access resources, build livelihoods and struggle with power. In particular, this dissertation uses concepts of the Liberian-American dream and the shadow colony to explore the historic and contemporary terms and circumstances ii through which Liberian refugees experience and evaluate migratory prospects and restrictions. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The production of this dissertation has been an outcome of many places and people. In Washington, DC my committee members, Dolores Koenig, Geoffry Burkhart, and David Vine have provided patient support and provocative feedback throughout the entire process. Thank you for asking the right questions and reading so many pages. This research would not have been possible without the generous financial support of two research grants: the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (Award ID 0850719) and the American University College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Fellowship. The National Science Foundation and American University College of Arts and Sciences are not responsible for the conclusions I present. At the Buduburam camp, Kecelia, Tatee, Richmond, Obed and Mercy alongside many others, opened their homes and lives to me. This research would not have been possible without your countless hours of support, encouragement and friendship. In between Buduburam and Washington, DC, Dr. Daniel Gallego provided me access to two valuable research resources: a research permit and limitless discussions. Your experience at the camp, friendship and willingness to have a little bit of fun is deeply appreciated. Over countless home-made lunches, Jennie Simpson kept me on track and made the writing process possible. Thank you for being a tremendous motivation. From far and near, Seraphima Rombe-Shulman offered support that only the most genuine friend and iv intellect can do. Inside the classroom, I would like to thank Audrey Cooper and other members of the dissertation seminar for providing careful and thoughtful feedback. Rachel Voss provided invaluable support over tedious hours at the computer, tracking the finest details of survey data in an Access database. In the dance studio, Nancy Havlik and the Dance Performance Group – Ken Manheimer, Darrell Duane, Beth Cooper, Shoshanna Sumka, Annetta Dexter Sawyer, Shaun English, Daniel Barbiero and Steve Hilmy – offered me a creative space to move through the frustrations and rewards of the writing process. Your friendship, dancing, music, collaboration and even technical support have been tremendous. At the bakery, my co-workers offered endless laughs and encouragement in the 11th hour of this project. My gratitude to my family extends all across the Midwest. Erin, thank you for your informal and wise advising, and for your beautiful, funny daughter. Dad and Mark, the map you so painstakingly created opened my eyes to a new world. Mom, the afternoon spent in the Indianapolis airport was a turning point in the final phase of this work. Thank you. To my brothers – Chris, Mark, Steven and Daniel – your endless acceptance of all my endeavors and sudden departures for far off places is tremendous. Thank you to everyone at the Farm for offering support and respite in so many ways over the past years. Roman, you have been a true friend and partner. This whole process would not have been possible without your openness to long periods of time apart and uneasy conditions. Thank you for coming along to see what this whole thing was about. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ....................................................................................... xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ xv Chapter 1. POWER AND MEANING: BEYOND REFUGEE AGENCY AND SOLUTIONS ....1 The Creation of a Problem .........................................................................................4 Solutions? ..............................................................................................................6 Scope of Research......................................................................................................9 Studying Refugees: Victimization, Agency and Power ............................................. 12 Who are Refugees? .............................................................................................. 13 Refugees and the International Refugee Regime................................................... 16 Theories of Power .................................................................................................... 19 Postcolonialism .................................................................................................... 21 Transnationalism and Access to Resources .............................................................. 25 Diaspora .............................................................................................................. 28 vi Power and Resources: Social Networks and Remittances ..................................... 31 Social Mobility: Hope and the American-Dream .................................................. 38 Research Focus and Chapter Overview .................................................................... 41 2. LIBERIA AND THE UNITED STATES: TRACING AN AMBIGUOUS COLONIAL HISTORY ..................................................................................................................... 45 Ideas, Ideology, Power and History .......................................................................... 48 West African Grain Coast ........................................................................................ 55 People and Social Institutions .............................................................................. 55 Trade on the Grain Coast ..................................................................................... 57 Colonization ............................................................................................................ 59 African-American Emigrants ............................................................................... 60 The American Colonization Society ..................................................................... 61 Shifting Racist Ideas to Ideologies of Humanitarianism and Salvation.................. 63 Mission of Inquiry ............................................................................................... 65 The Establishment of Monrovia ........................................................................... 68 Arriving in West Africa, Uncovering a False Report ............................................ 68 Opposition and Failed Ideology ........................................................................... 69 Politics of Exclusion ................................................................................................ 72 Imperial Struggle ................................................................................................. 72 White Colonists, Black Settlers: the Push for Nationhood .................................... 73 Black Settlers, Africans: An Ideology of “Civilization” ........................................ 76 vii Institutions of Social Mobility and Exclusion ....................................................... 78 A New Nation .......................................................................................................... 79 Post Independence ............................................................................................... 79 Building a “National Organism”: Territorial Struggle and Indirect Rule ............... 80 The US Tightens its Grip on Liberia..................................................................... 85 Competing Nationalisms: Garvey, President C.D.B. King & W.E.B DuBois ........ 86 Firestone – 1926 Loan .......................................................................................... 87 League of Nations Investigation ........................................................................... 89 World War II – Further Exploits .......................................................................... 92 True Whig