This thesis examines the interrelationship between migration and gender, exploring the
migration trajectory of Ghanaians in London from their motivation to migrate, their
settlement patterns and their transnational activities. The study specifically investigates two
main questions: firstly, if and how patriarchal gendered ideologies and relations are
influenced by the new migration space and how gender interacts with other social
differences (e.g. class, nationality, education, legal status) to reconfigure gendered patterns
of behaviour in the country of destination? Secondly, how do gender ideologies and
practices influence the maintenance of transnational links with migrants’ home country and
vice versa? The study adopts a multi-sited ethnographic approach to gain an insight into the
experiences of migrants. It demonstrates that paid employment, contextual factors and
social differentials simultaneously reinforce and transform patriarchal gender relations in
different social spaces.
The thesis argues that the international division of labour, institutional challenges and
socio-economic factors in the new social space of London provide different dilemmas for
migrants. These opportunities and constraints lead to contestations and renegotiations
which require that migrants reconcile earning with caring. This in turn leads to changes in
the relative power and status of women and men in the host country. This study
distinguishes the factors leading to gains and losses; shows that Ghanaian migrants are
gendered actors; and contributes to disaggregating the persistence or transformations in
patriarchal gender relations. The man’s position as the breadwinner is often significantly
challenged undermining his patriarchal authority in the household. Ghanaian women on
the other hand have often been able to gain new access to resources, make life choices and
participate in decision making in the households thereby being empowered across space
and time. The study contributes to current understanding of empowerment processes by
focusing on the role of men in this process, maintaining that socio-cultural and economic
factors impact the lives and activities of male and female migrants differentially,
reconfiguring patriarchal hierarchies and levelling power relations and decision making
processes to more egalitarian patterns.
It also argues that the formation of transnational families as a result of ‘split marriages’ and
children being sent back to the origin country for fostering leads to different gendered
outcomes for migrant and non-migrant women, men and children. The study shows that
responsibility for production, reproduction and socialisation is divided across national
borders, with the performance of financial, emotional and practical support, decision
making patterns and power relations negotiated in the transnational social space. The study
contributes to deepening understanding of the critical nature of the interplay of the private
and public spheres in gender dynamics and its interrelationship with migration, and also
demonstrates that childcare has a significant impact on the caring and earning roles of
parents, the organisation of households and enhancement of gender equality.