Although African ethnicity has become a highly fertile field of enquiry in recent years, most of the research is concentrated on southern and central Africa, and has passed Ghana by. This volume extends many of the distilled insights, but also modifies them in the light of the Ghanaian evidence. The collection is multidisciplinary in scope and spans the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial contexts. A central contention of the volume is that, while there were significant regional variations, ethnicity was not purely a colonial invention'. The boundaries of we-groups' have constantly...
Although African ethnicity has become a highly fertile field of enquiry in recent years, most of the research is concentrated on southern and central ...
Drawing on two decades of research this social and political history of North-Western Ghana traces the creation of new ethnic and territorial boundaries, categories and forms of self-understanding, and represents a major contribution to debates on ethnicity, colonialism and the 'production of history'. It explores the creation and redefinition of ethnic distinctions and commonalities by African and European actors, showing that ethnicity's power derives from a contradiction: while ethnic identities purport to be non-negotiable, creating permanent bonds, stability and security, the boundaries...
Drawing on two decades of research this social and political history of North-Western Ghana traces the creation of new ethnic and territorial boundari...
Recognizing that land rights are ambiguous, negotiable and politically embedded, these case studies explore the long-term processes and recent changes in contemporary rural West Africa affecting the conversion of control over land into social and political capital and vice versa. They point to the colonial origins of what came to be viewed as 'customary' tenure and to the legal pluralism characterizing pre-colonial tenure arrangements. Furthermore, they show the spiritual and ritual importance of land that can be converted into political power and economic prerogatives, a dimension neglected...
Recognizing that land rights are ambiguous, negotiable and politically embedded, these case studies explore the long-term processes and recent changes...
Focusing on an area of the savannah in northern Ghana and southwestern Burkina Faso, Land, Mobility, and Belonging in West Africa explores how rural populations have secured, contested, and negotiated access to land and how they have organized their communities despite being constantly on the move as farmers or migrant laborers. Carola Lentz seeks to understand how those who claim native status hold sway over others who are perceived to have come later. As conflicts over land, agriculture, and labor have multiplied in Africa, Lentz shows how politics and power play decisive roles in...
Focusing on an area of the savannah in northern Ghana and southwestern Burkina Faso, Land, Mobility, and Belonging in West Africa explores how rura...
Remembering Independence looks at the period since the end of the Second World War when the great waves of decolonisation occurred, and these events were subsequently remembered. The book is organised in three sections. The first introduces a number of case studies and through recent celebrations of national days investigates the importance of independence in narratives of national progress. The following sections explore the case studies in greater detail, as well as introducing wider examples, focusing on the unceasing "work" of remembering independence as well as the contests...
Remembering Independence looks at the period since the end of the Second World War when the great waves of decolonisation occurred, and th...
Remembering Independence looks at the period since the end of the Second World War when the great waves of decolonisation occurred, and these events were subsequently remembered. The book is organised in three sections. The first introduces a number of case studies and through recent celebrations of national days investigates the importance of independence in narratives of national progress. The following sections explore the case studies in greater detail, as well as introducing wider examples, focusing on the unceasing "work" of remembering independence as well as the contests...
Remembering Independence looks at the period since the end of the Second World War when the great waves of decolonisation occurred, and th...
