| Title | Becoming a Sakawa Boy |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | Magic and Modernity in Ghana |
| Contributor | Matthew Gmalifo Mabefam (author) |
| Kalissa Alexeyeff (author) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.53288/0361.1.12 |
| Landing page | https://punctumbooks.com/titles/living-with-monsters-ethnographic-fiction-about-real-monsters/ |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Matthew Gmalifo Mabefam, Kalissa Alexeyeff |
| Publisher | punctum books |
| Published on | 2023-05-11 |
| Long abstract | Sakawa boys are young internet scammers in Ghana who believe “juju” or magic helps to manipulate their victims into giving them large sums of money. Sakawa boys are recruited primarily from the urban poor and their principal targets are Westerners via the internet. Economic insecurity and entrenched poverty resulting from government corruption, as well as neocolonial global development initiatives, all contribute to a setting where occult economies thrive. The promise of great wealth to be gained through occult sits alongside fear that “juju” turns its users into zombies and can ultimately lead to death. This paper explores the structure and logic of poverty that makes becoming a Sakawa boy a viable survival strategy despite the risks involved. |
| Page range | pp. 201–214 |
| Print length | 14 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
| Keywords |
|
Matthew Gmalifo Mabefam is a lecturer in Development Studies at the University of Melbourne, a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Postcolonial Studies, and a Diaspora Fellow for African Research and Impact Network. His research focuses on the politics of international development, development in Africa, spirituality, religion, witchcraft, and wellbeing. He obtained his PhD in Anthropology and Development Studies from the University of Melbourne in 2021.
Kalissa Alexeyeff is a senior lecturer in Gender Studies at the University of Melbourne. She specializes in the areas of gender and sexuality, globalization, and development. Her research covers a range of interdisciplinary topics. Her first book Dancing from the Heart: Movement, Gender and Cook Islands Globalization (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2009) explores the significance of dance to Cook Islands femininity throughout colonial history and in its contemporary global manifestations. She is co-editor with Niko Besnier of Gender on the Edge: Transgender, Gay, and Other Pacific Islanders (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2014) which explores alternative sexualities and gender identities in the Pacific region, and with John Taylor Touring Pacific Cultures (Australia National University Press, 2016), a creative collection of Indigenous and non-Indigenous responses to touring and tourism.