On the Same Wavelength? Differing Geopolitical Positionalities and Voluntary Return and Reintegration in Ghana

Bibliographic Data

ID18935173
AuthorsEster Serra-Mingot (0000-0002-5399-0672, Bielefeld University, corresponding author), Markus Rudolf (0000-0003-2133-1864, BICC - Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies)
Year2023
Volume24
IssueS2
Pages485-502
Publication date2023-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of International Migration and Integration / Revue de l integration et de la migration internationale (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1488-3473 • E-ISSN: 1874-6365
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12134-022-00958-x
PMID35496939
OpenAlexW4224833250
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited29

This paper explores the range of experiences of “voluntary” return to Ghana, based on the different positionalities of migrants set against migration and return regimes and broader socio-economic inequalities. The cases illustrate how geopolitical relations shape migrants’ mobilities, highlighting the unequal relations between different actors in the countries of origin and destination; primarily these are the migrants, their relatives, and communities of origin. Conflicting interests and expectations of these actors, as much as differing return policies, create unequal options and expectations of mobility. Migrant journeys, regardless the age, gender, legal status or social class, are always geopolitical journeys. The diverging experiences of return, thus, depend not only on the individual situations, but also on the broader politicized relations and interests between stakeholders in the migration and return processes

Demographic economics · Economic geography · Economics · Geography · Geopolitics · Inequality · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Turnover · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration