A study of Ghana's largest illegal slum, revealing how such communities are able to govern themselves in the absence of state authority.

The volume challenges dominant narratives of progress with a rich range of investigations of local struggles from the Global south which are based on original ethnographic research. The chapters take a point of departure in ideas and concepts developed by the pioneering anthropologist Eric R. Wolf in ‘Europe and the People Without History’, and emphasize the relevance and usefulness of applying Wolf to contemporary contexts. As such, the collection contributes to knowledge of dynamic relationships between local agency in the Global south, and broader political and economic processes that...