Across the Borders of Political Subjectivity

Abstract

Based on the ethnography of two co-development projects run by Ghanaian migrants to Italy, this article explores migrants’ political subjectivity by examining practices and discourses on migration as a resource for development. In Ghana, which is considered one of the African states more pro-active in designing policies to channel migration for development, diasporic groups have been re-articulated as part of the transnational nation. In Italy, where migrants are incorporated as subaltern subjects, migration and development policies have been interpreted as an inclusive tool for promoting socio-economic integration in the country of immigration. In this scenario, where neo-liberal policies celebrate migrants’ potential as development agents, the analysis focuses on the way Ghanaian migrants imagine and encounter the state of both origin and destination while reflecting and embodying discourses, becoming development brokers, and struggling to be recognized across borders.