‘Why Are You Not Crying?’

What is it about?

Drawing on 16-months of ethnographic research (participant observation, interviews and conversations) among young Dutch-Ghanaians, this article analyzes the ways in which young people develop their own ways of engaging with Ghana and family there. We investigate this by looking at an under-researched form of mobility that they engage in: that of attending funerals in Ghana. Funerals are one of the most important family events in Ghanaian society, and allow young people to gain knowledge about cultural and family practices. This process of learning and meaning-making involves dealing with tensions and frictions. It is through this experience that young people’s ways of relating to Ghana and family shifts, bringing to the fore the significance of peer relationships.

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