Going to Jong: A Burden of History and Current Option Among Northern Ghanaian Farm Migrants

A central concept in the analysis is the notion of jong, which advances our understanding of migrants' daily lives and how they have responded to the changes. The study draws on migrants understandings of the concept to (1) demonstrate the link between seasonal migration and social change, including whether, as a result of these developments, economic and social relations have changed to the benefit of migrants involved in food production in the forest fringes, (2) highlight ongoing social differentiations that ensue from the new economic space migrants now inhabit, and (3) discuss the major problems that still confront individual migrants and their families. It argues that these changes have shaped and have been shaped, by the trajectory of Ghana's economic decline in the 1980s. While this had disastrous consequences on broader national economy, it opened opportunities for migrants involved in food production. These insights thus contribute to some of the complexities involved in the incorporation of peripheral regions such as northern Ghana into societies still in transition from colonial capitalism.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Lobnibe, Isidore

Contributors dc:contributor

• Saul, Mahir

• Anthropology, Cultural

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3290303

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/85278