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Localisation, Ghanaian Pentecostalism and the Stranger's Beauty in Botswana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Rijk van Dijk
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Abstract

This contribution considers the current position of the Ghanaian migrant community in Botswana's capital, Gaborone, at a time of rising xenophobic sentiments and increasing ethnic tensions among the general public. The article examines anthropological understandings of such sentiments by placing them in the context of the study of nationalisms in processes of state formation in Africa and the way in which these ideologies reflect the position and recognition of minorities. In Botswana, identity politics indulge in a liberalist democratic rhetoric in which an undifferentiated citizenship is promoted by the state, concealing on the one hand inequalities between the various groups in the country, but on the other hand defending the exclusive interests of all ‘Batswana’ against foreign influence through the enactment of what has become known as a ‘localisation policy'. Like many other nationalities, Ghanaian expatriate labour has increasingly become the object of localisation policies. However in their case xenophobic sentiments have taken on unexpected dimensions. By focusing on the general public's fascination with Ghanaian fashion and styles of beautification, the numerous hair salons and clothing boutiques Ghanaians operate, in addition to the newly emerging Ghanaian-led Pentecostal churches in the city, the ambiguous but ubiquitous play of repulsion and attraction can be demonstrated in the way in which localisation is perceived and experienced by the migrant as well as by the dominant groups in society. The article concludes by placing entrepreneurialism at the nexus of where this play of attraction and repulsion creates a common ground of understanding between Ghanaians and their host society, despite the government's hardening localisation policies.

Résumé

Cet article s'intéresse à la situation actuelle de la communauté migrante ghanéenne dans la capitale du Botswana, Gaborone, alors que les sentiments xénophobes et les tensions ethniques se développent dans la population. L'article examine les éléments anthropologiques de ces sentiments en les plaçant dans le contexte de l'étude des nationalismes dans les processus de formation des États en Afrique et la manière dont ces idéologies reflètent la situation et la reconnaissance des minorités. Au Botswana, la politique identitaire donne libre cours à un discours démocratique libéraliste au sein duquel l'État valorise une citoyenneté indifférenciée, en dissimulant d'un côté les inégalités entre les différents groupes du pays, tout en défendant d'un autre côté les intérêts exclusifs de tous les Batswana contre l'influence étrangère à travers la promulgation de ce que l'on a appelé une «politique de localisation». Comme beaucoup d'autres nationalités, la main-d'œuvre ghanéenne expatriée a été l'objet croissant de politiques de localisation, mais dans son cas les sentiments xénophobes ont pris des dimensions inattendues. En se concentrant sur la fascination populaire pour la mode ghanéenne et ses styles d'embellissement, les nombreux salons de coiffure et boutiques de vêtements gérés par des Ghanéens, en plus des nouvelles églises pentecôtistes dirigées par des Ghanéens qui font leur apparition dans la ville, on peut démontrer le jeu ambigu et cependant omniprésent de répulsion-attraction dans la manière dont la localisation est perçue et vécue par le migrant, mais aussi par les groupes dominants de la société. L'article conclut en plaçant l'entrepreneuriat au point précis où ce jeu de répulsion-attraction crée un terrain d'entente commun entre les Ghanéens et leur société d'accueil, malgré le durcissement des politiques de localisation du Gouvernement.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 73 , Issue 4 , November 2003 , pp. 560 - 583
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2003

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