PICTURING AND PERFORMING PROTECTION IN AN ACCRA ZONGO 

Whether in the form of wearing silver scorpion necklaces, uttering the words “As-salamu Alaykum” when crossing a compound threshold, mingling with others over a steaming cup of Attaya mint tea, or presenting a pretend smile to an enemy, various protective strategies offer people living in Nima-Accra, Ghana a sense of stability, comfort and order in a place fundamentally defined by “comings and goings” and “freedom to do what one wants.” As one resident described the web of relations in this predominantly Muslim migrant community, “We are all strangers here. We need to take care of each other … because you never know tomorrow.” On the one hand, this highly mobile and diverse environment offers flexibility, opportunity, and autonomy. On the other hand, it also breeds a sense of danger, vulnerability, and distrust of the unknown. Emily argues that people living in Nima employ a range of protective strategies to both negotiate these tensions and create meaningful attachments (and boundaries) with and between other people and places. As part of her larger dissertation project concerning how people living in Nima create and sustain multiple ways of belonging, she is exploring the use and meanings of these protective techniques through long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Nima (July 2018- January 2020). In addition, her findings will engage broader theoretical discussions on protection, boundaries, and uncertainty (i.e. Veena Das, Georg Simmel, Richard Werbner). This paper has the capacity to offer alternative ways in which to think about protection– about caring for oneself and others – in a stranger context that relies less on laws, regulations, or static boundaries and more upon mingling and moving together. 

Authorship (Academic-BU): Emily Williamson, Funded by the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Grant