ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the practices and aspirations of young Burkinabe migrants arriving as refugees in Burkina Faso for the first time during the Ivorian crisis, usually accompanying their parents, who had been forced to abandon their migrant careers in Cote d’Ivoire. One of the most striking consequences of the recent armed conflict in Cote d’Ivoire is the forced displacement of Burkinabe labor migrants and their families from Cote d’Ivoire to Burkina Faso over the decade 2000–10. In exploring the meanings and uses of Zouglou music in this context, the analysis suggests that this particular musical style served to articulate multiple modes of hope. As noted by most scholars reflecting on hope, the notion is difficult to pin down and therefore challenging to use as an analytical concept. The ambiguity entailed by displacement leads us back to the relation between hope and uncertainty.
