“Things should be better”: immobility, labour and the negotiation of hope amongst young Ghanaian craftsmen

Main author: Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-34778
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic GN Anthropology
description Drawing on an ethnography of life in a Ghanaian weaving workshop, this article traces the intersections between young rural weavers’ affective labour, hope and their experiences of immobility. Hope is explored as an ambivalent resource which shapes the shared, social materiality of their craftwork, the spiritual beliefs which give meaningful shape to the challenges of craft livelihoods and the imaginaries and lived experiences which compose young weavers’ sense of migration and mobility. Entangled in the precarious logics of late capitalism, these hopes simultaneously offer young craftsmen a sense of existential mobility, whilst curtailing and circumscribing possibilities for sustained and systemic change. In this, the ‘not-yet’ hopefulness of immobility is examined as a complex affective and political field, shot through with tense anticipation, longing and disappointment.
format Journal Article
author Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
author_facet Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
authorStr Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
author_letter Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
title “Things should be better”: immobility, labour and the negotiation of hope amongst young Ghanaian craftsmen
publisher Sage
publishDate 2021
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/34778/