Wealth, Consumption and Migration in a West African Society New Lifestyles and New Social Obligations among the Kasena, Northern Ghana

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dc.contributor.authorAwedoba, A.K.
dc.contributor.authorHans, H.P.
dc.date.accessioned2018-11-30T09:07:09Z
dc.date.available2018-11-30T09:07:09Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractMobility and global entanglements in consumption are among the key concepts of globalisation. However, in social sciences there is an ongoing dispute about the consequences of human mobility, i.e., migration. Whereas many scholars assume that it has a beneficial effect on wealth in both, the sending and the receiving community, others relativise the economic effects and highlight the cultural patterns as motives for migration. This article sheds more light on these issues in a West African context. As shown through linguistic analyses and ethnographic evidence, migration leads to changing notions of wealth as such, thereby redefining in the sending community what is required to have a good life. The change of these concepts contributes to the increasing reconnaissance of consumption and to the expression of wealth through the possession of consumer goods. As a consequence, the acceptance of the consumerist concept of wealth engenders the desire to migrate: only through migration is it possible to acquire the financial means to participate actively in prestigious consumption. "Owning things" and "owning money" increasingly equals social reputation. This is also expressed through funeral arrangements, which become more and more costly. A proper funeral requires the financial means typically provided by migrants, thereby giving evidence for the deep cultural embedding of the new consumerist notion of wealth.en_US
dc.identifier.citationAwedoba, Albert & Hahn, Hans. (2014). Wealth, Consumption and Migration in a West African Society New Lifestyles and New Social Obligations among the Kasena, Northern Ghana. Anthropos. 109. 45-55.en_US
dc.identifier.otherVOL 109 (1), 45-55
dc.identifier.urihttp://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/26048
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectWealthen_US
dc.subjectMigrationen_US
dc.subjectKasenaen_US
dc.subjectNorthern Ghanaen_US
dc.subjectSocial obligationsen_US
dc.subjectLifestylesen_US
dc.subjectConsumptionen_US
dc.titleWealth, Consumption and Migration in a West African Society New Lifestyles and New Social Obligations among the Kasena, Northern Ghanaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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