Diaspora Governance: The Instrumentality of Informal Religio-Politico Structures for Migrant Integration among Ghanaian Diaspora in Guangzhou, China

Patrick Lebene Adonoo,Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah

doi:10.4236/aasoci.2019.98026

Abstract

Africans presence in Guangzhou epitomizes a sweet bitter fragrance for China relative to governance, law compliance and international relations. This study grounded on a case study design with Ghanaians Living in Guangzhou as case investigated who, how and the where of African Ghanaians in the Chinese diaspora governance structure. The study setting was the Ghanaian Church in the De kanlu area in Guangzhou where most Ghanaian lived in Guangzhou, China. The qualitative case study approach was deemed appropriate method for the study. Through participant and non-participant observation and key informant interviews supported with Focus Group discussions, data were collected through direct visits to the Ghana restaurants, Ghana Community meetings and the Ghanaian church for 11 months between in March 2016 and January 2017. Data were analysed using emerging and constant thematic analysis. Central to the findings was the observation that the Ghanaian diaspora in Guangzhou has two main approaches of governance: the formal and the informal approaches. The focus of the former approach facilitations is engineered by the Guangzhou city government while the informal approach relied on the Church of Pentecost in Guangzhou (Ghana Church) in-built and internalized working and governance structures for governing Ghanaians. The informal self-governance approach was considered more trustworthy, effective and efficient compared to the formal arrangement. This new diasporan preferred governance approach has an eclectic character and defined as the religio-political diaspora governance approach emanating from the Ghanaian community assessment and evaluation. The formal approach (the constitutional draft) was considered as woeful outdated and inadequate governance framework for the Ghanaian diaspora community. There however is a continued ideological influence of Ghanaian diaspora by the Chinese political and governmental systems nurturing a hybridized governance approach and structure which is kept in a continuing redefining nature.

Highlights

Whilst presenting a new paradigm and opportunity for different stakeholders, the quest to understand and effectively govern Africans in China has become major concerns both to Chinese and African governments
Diaspora governance within the Ghanaian diaspora in China can classified into two different forms; the formal and informal (Figure 1)
The formal approach to diaspora governance regulates the affairs of the Ghanaian diaspora using five different domains

Summary

Introduction

Whilst presenting a new paradigm and opportunity for different stakeholders, the quest to understand and effectively govern Africans in China has become major concerns both to Chinese and African governments. Foreigners are unable to obtain extensions for their F visas to conduct business (Bodomo & Ma, 2010; Müller & Wehrhahn, 2013; Bork-Hüffer et al, 2014) Coupled with this background, Bodomo & Ma (2010) reports that the Guangzhou’s security officials are characterized with corruption and inefficiency. They claim “more efficient, more professional, less corrupt and more racially tolerant” enforcement personnel found in Yiwu, which accounts for fairer treatment of Africans compared to treatment observed in Guangzhou. These events mimic difficult phenomenon of migration in Europe and other parts of the world generally. Migration with its evolving challenge has come to be established as one of the major difficulties for nation governance today—both the giving and the receiving countries

Methods

Results

Conclusion