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- Convenors:
-
Stefan Schmid
(Goethe University Frankfurt)
Mayke Kaag (African Studies Centre Leiden)
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- Stream:
- Social Anthropology
- Location:
- Appleton Tower, Lecture Theatre 2
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 12 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
This panel explores the ambitions and experiences of Africans, not in their quality of receiving global tourists but as global travellers themselves, including those who only travel virtually, their actual travel being hampered by visa restrictions, lack of means, and/or the right connections.
Long Abstract:
A mirror to the other CRG panel 'Tourism in Africa', this panel explores the ambitions and experiences of Africans, not in their quality of receiving global tourists but as global travellers themselves, including those who only travel virtually, their actual travel being hampered by visa restrictions, lack of means, and/or the right connections. African global travellers may (aim to) travel for a diversity of reasons, such as work, education, leisure, religion, adventure, safety. Their trajectory and destination may be influenced by established connections (family, religious networks, economic connections, including those developed through tourism), as well as by disconnecting factors, excluding some destinations as an option. Like for tourists coming to Africa, imaginations of the destination play an important role in inciting Africans to travel. How are these imaginations fed and how do they influence Africans' global travel (aspirations)?
Like in the other panel, we aim to investigate the role of policies and imaginations in connecting African global travellers to certain localities in the world, while putting barriers to connecting to others. We also invite papers analysing how African global travellers use pre-existing connections for travelling, and/or forge new ones by travelling, particularly to destinations beyond the West. Moreover, we explicitly aim to pay attention to 'the paradox of connectedness', the fact that ever more Africans are globally connected through ICT and mass media, but, because of this, feel ever more disconnected, seeing their aspirations of global travel and exploration frustrated by restrictive policies from Western and Asian countries.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 12 June, 2019, -Paper short abstract:
This paper examines official travels of West African political leaders who travelled within Africa and throughout the world in the 1950s and early 1960s. It focuses on the official tourist program offered to the visitors and raises the issue of how African travelers experienced their journey.
Paper long abstract:
This paper examines official travels and state visits of West African political leaders who travelled within Africa and between Africa and the world during the decolonization period from the 1950s to early 1960s. This period was characterized by major social and political changes within West Africa. African political leaders used the platform of travelling in order to represent and showcase their political ambitions, agendas and states. Even though these travels mainly aimed at political and diplomatic goals, they also provided an opportunity for African political leaders to travel and to explore the world, while those inviting them carefully planned how to represent their countries to their visitors. This paper focuses on three aspects. First, it describes the official tourist program offered to the visitors. Whether in Africa or the global North, this was usually designed in a way to represent the host country as "modern", including the visit of dams, factories and major landmarks. The paper then raises the issue of how African travelers experienced their journey, including the question of what may have went "wrong" during the journey. Finally, it analyses how African political leaders represented their travel experience back home, even more as many political leaders were more frequently abroad than at home. The paper is based on archival research in Senegal, France, Great Britain and the United States. It mainly uses material on Senegalese and Guinean political leaders.
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines the paths through which African traders obtain knowledge of promising trading places when they intend to travel abroad to purchase products and why they decide to travel whereas they could also place their orders by phone calls or online.
Paper long abstract:
Mobile African traders are active in all corners of the world. Some of them regularly travel across the globe to inspect trade goods, factories and plantations before they order products and ship them to the respective destinations. Recent communication and transfer technology would allow traders after the establishment of initial contacts to stay in their offices, order and inspect their trade goods online. This would save means and time that they could invest in strengthening their social and distribution networks. Many traders indeed organize their business like this, others however regularly travel to faraway destinations, visit trade fairs and trading partners. This paper examines the practices of African traders and their motivations to travel (or to stay at home); how they obtain knowledge of promising trading places, choose their destinations, cope with often complicated policies of obtaining travel documents and manage to purchase trade goods such as fabrics, tea or building materials abroad, often in Asia. Based on research on African trade networks in several African and Asian countries, this paper shows that traders are confronted with increasingly complicated migration policies. Nevertheless, they are in a rather privileged situation as soon as they have accumulated enough capital that allows them to travel and invest in trade goods; at the same time, they continue facing the risk of losing their capital in their ventures due to trickery, unfavourable policies or unforeseen misfortunes.
Paper short abstract:
Between the institutional master narrative of "coming back to develop one's country after travelling abroad" and the claimed obligation to multiply mobility at home, Cameroonian youth navigate in a tense field of incompatible promises. The paper analyses their narrative agency in claiming mobility.
Paper long abstract:
In the deprived atmosphere of present day Cameroon, with youth facing unemployment, resignation and violent conflict, mobility is an auspicious, yet burdensome promise. Innovative social entrepreneurs and promising students are seeking to gain international exposure by building networks or planning studies abroad. Due to a lack of finances and governmental support, international scholarships and short-term programmes are often the only opportunities to travel abroad.
In dealing with destinations in the Global North, Cameroonians are regularly confronted with an internationally entrenched premise, emphasising the expectation of "coming back to develop one's country after acquiring knowledge abroad". When applying, conceptual catchphrases such as "leadership potential", as well as willingness to return to Cameroon are decisive narrative cornerstones for admission. In light of massive visa rejections, this youth is forced to fit into the rhetoric of institutional expectations by learning the required "language". Simultaneously, these mobile Cameroonians are confronted with locally fortified imaginations of "the good life abroad" - its appeal voiced through terminology such as "openings" for the family or "chercher des reseaux" for the whole community.
Between the institutional master narrative and the claimed obligation to secure success by multiplying mobility, the travellers navigate in a tense field of two incompatible promises. Based on applied narratological research and drawing from semi-structured interviews in Cameroon, this paper explores the structure and power dynamics of the clashing master narratives. The focus lies on the negotiations of (narrative) agency by young and mobile Cameroonians, trying to find their own voice.
Paper short abstract:
This paper is about Ghanaian expectant women who with the guarantee of social networks in the USA travelled solo and independently to give birth to American 'jackpot babies'. These women had good reviews about their varied delivery experiences and described their travels as meaningful.
Paper long abstract:
Contemporary studies have tried to understand the motivations behind expectant women's participation in birth tourism to the USA, probably for citizenship and a passport. Yet, most of the studies (especially within sub-Saharan Africa) have not been able to establish how these women made the decision and plans prior to their short stay in the USA, and their subjective experiences while giving birth to their American 'jackpot babies'. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews as part of the mixed method approach, data was collected from 10 Ghanaian solo women travellers with American 'jackpot babies'. The study found that the global inequality in the acquisition of citizenship has motivated Ghanaian women to act 'rationally' to use tourism to acquire "right" citizenship from the USA. To the Ghanaian parents, the opportunity and ability to transfer benefits which are mostly life-changing to their children is enough justification for their travel regardless of the danger it poses to their lives and that of their unborn babies. The implication of interchanging this form of mobility to other types of capital presents an opportunity for American 'jackpot babies' to migrate in the near future to gain access to their entitled benefits in the USA. This paper provides insight into Ghanaian birth tourists' decision to having American 'jackpot babies'; their preparations and hospital experiences.