Changing Gender Relations and Household roles due to Migration and Remittances : A study to the influence of gender on the sending and receiving behaviour of remittances and its impact on gender relations and household roles between spouses among the Ashanti in Kumasi, Ghana

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2012-08-09
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en
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Abstract
The recent attention of research conducted on the topic of migration, remittances and its development potential suggests that remittances are becoming an important principle in many developing countries. Literature states that ongoing gender relations within the household are determinative in decisions about migration as well as they have an impact on the way remittances are assigned, used and distributed among family members. This is also the case in the countries under study in this research project; the Philippines and Ghana.12 However, focusing only on its economic consequences and statistics fails to recognize the consequences of the impact on the everyday life of the household and in particular the subsequent change in power relations. Thus, the aim of this research is to go beyond a macro-economic approach, by focusing on the impact of migration and remittances on changing power and gender relations within the household. One particular feature that differentiates this research from other migration studies is the explicit focus on gender. Having additional financial resources by remittances and the absence of male family members could transform the traditional social structure and power relations within the household. It is likely that it affects the household - which functions as a cooperating unit - as a whole when one of the household members decides to migrate abroad for a long period of time.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen