Now that the goal of universal primary education has been achieved in Ghana, the nation’s aim is to expand higher education as a key to development. We argue that this expansion will necessitate... Show moreNow that the goal of universal primary education has been achieved in Ghana, the nation’s aim is to expand higher education as a key to development. We argue that this expansion will necessitate the gradual addition of Ghanaian languages as a medium of instruction. We innovatively explain why this is so by comparing the achievements of the Ghanaian education system with one of the best education systems in the world. We use the conceptual distinction between ‘discerned’ and ‘designed’ languages to discuss the problem of which languages to choose. We propose five scientific principles that could guide the introduction of Ghanaian languages and suggest concrete steps that could be taken over the coming years to make the transition practically possible. As such, we present a way of looking at using indigenous languages as a medium of instruction that has relevance for other African countries as well. Show less
Informal workers are a heterogeneous group distinguished by diverse activities and interests, but they have in common that they operate largely outside state regulations.In this article, we analyse... Show moreInformal workers are a heterogeneous group distinguished by diverse activities and interests, but they have in common that they operate largely outside state regulations.In this article, we analyse the ways in which informal workers in Ghana are organising (themselves) in response to proposed relocations of their workspace. Borrowing from Tsing, we distinguish three layers of friction that can lead to (structural) change, collective action, and an increase in informal workers’ political leverage. Our two case studies in Accra and Kumasi show how striving for inclusive development is a process shaped by diverse agendas and potentially conflicting interests. These relational and political aspects are crucial for understanding the frictions involved, as well as how these may lead to change. Where the tendency is to gloss over these frictions, we argue that they need to be the starting point for effective policies and initiatives for inclusive development.Résumé: Les travailleurs et travailleuses informelles constituent un groupe hétérogène qui se distingue par sa grande diversité d’activités et d’intérêts, mais qui a comme caractéristique commune le fait de fonctionner essentiellement en marge des réglementations gouvernementales. Dans cet article, nous analysons les différentes façons dont les travailleurs et travailleuses informelles au Ghana s’organisent en réponse aux délocalisations proposées de leur espace de travail. En nous inspirant de Tsing, nous distinguons trois niveaux de tension qui peuvent conduire à un changement (structurel), à une action collective et à un poids politique accru des travailleur·euse·sinformel·le·s. Nos deux études de cas à Accra et Kumasi montrent à quel point militer pour un développement inclusif est un processus façonné par des motivations diverses et des intérêts potentiellement conflictuels. Ces aspects relationnels et politiques sont cruciaux pour comprendre les tensions qui sont en jeu, ainsi que la manière dontelles peuvent conduire au changement. Alors que la tendance est de dissimuler ces nous soutenons qu’elles doivent au contraire constituer le point de départ de politiques et d’initiatives efficaces pour un développement inclusif. Show less
Bertus Haverkort groeide op in een boerengezin in Slagharen. Hij genoot van modernisering op de boerderij van zijn jeugd, omdat dit het werk verlichte en de opbrengsten verbeterde. Met in zijn... Show moreBertus Haverkort groeide op in een boerengezin in Slagharen. Hij genoot van modernisering op de boerderij van zijn jeugd, omdat dit het werk verlichte en de opbrengsten verbeterde. Met in zijn bagage een dosis moderne landbouwkennis uit Wageningen, werkte hij aan programma’s in de tropen waarbij overdracht van westerse kennis het doel was. De aanpak blijkt niet te werken. Hij plaatst vraagtekens bij de toepasbaarheid van de westerse kennis in situaties waar de ecologie, economie en cultuur zoveel verschillen. In samenwerking met lokale deskundigen uit India, Bolivia en Ghana wordt onderzocht hoe lokale wereldbeelden, waarden en kennis een rol spelen. Daarvoor wordt gewerkt aan een onderwijsmethode voor endogene ontwikkeling en aan een benadering voor co-creatie van wetenschappen uit verschillende tradities en wereldstreken. De internationale ervaringen worden in verband gebracht met de huidige crisis in de landbouw in Nederland en monden uit een pleidooi voor klimaat- en natuurvriendelijke landbouw. Show less
Why has Africa not been doing so well and what is the way forward? This book starts with the analysis of Vansina and Prah: the old cultural traditions in Africa have been destroyed in colonial... Show moreWhy has Africa not been doing so well and what is the way forward? This book starts with the analysis of Vansina and Prah: the old cultural traditions in Africa have been destroyed in colonial times; new ones are currently taking shape, based in part in African languages. The book uses cross-cultural psychology to show that such new cultural traditions are indeed forming in Africa. However, almost all African countries currently use a former colonial language in secondary and higher education. The book demonstrates that if more and more people get educated, this system will no longer scale. Over the next decade, more and more African countries will have to make a transition towards increased use of African languages. The book proposes a distinction between discerned and designed languages. All over the world, designed languages are made to serve speakers of several discerned languages. This could and should happen in Africa as well. The book contains a number of brief case studies, showing how in fact such a transition is practically possible. In future, African countries will be able to achieve success in their educational systems by using a small number of languages as medium of instruction. Such a transition will also help to form the new cultural traditions that are already taking shape on the continent. Show less
Literature on political vigilante groups has centred on the violence and conflict that emanate from their activities. This article approaches political vigilante groups as political actors who... Show moreLiterature on political vigilante groups has centred on the violence and conflict that emanate from their activities. This article approaches political vigilante groups as political actors who engage in political mobilisation and participation and therewith also contribute to nation state building. It explores how such groups participate in Ghana’s democratic governance and asks whether violence is an inevitable characteristic. The article builds on individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with political vigilante group members in Kumasi and Tamale in 2019. Findings show that political vigilante “youth” appeared to refer primarily to the social position attributed to non-elite groups in the political field. Political vigilante groups are multi-faceted in their organisational structures, membership, and activities both during electoral campaigns and during governing periods. While some groups revert to violence occasionally, the study concludes that political vigilante groups, in enabling different voices to be heard, are also contributing to democratic governance. Show less
This study on regulatory compliance in the logging sector in Ghana, attempts to understand how and why the key logging actors in the Ghana’s timber industry (i.e., licensed logging firms and... Show moreThis study on regulatory compliance in the logging sector in Ghana, attempts to understand how and why the key logging actors in the Ghana’s timber industry (i.e., licensed logging firms and chainsaw operators) respond to regulations in the sector and the extent to which the Forestry Commission, the main state regulatory institution, enforces these regulations to ensure compliance.For licensed logging firms, the study found that economic gains and societal pressures including demands from the local communities for developmental assistance and illegal activities of chainsaw operators influenced them to violation. Contrary, deterrence from third party non-state actors, particularly the EU market actors and forest certification bodies produced better compliance than the state sanctions. Also, for some firms, it was their religious beliefs including hope in eternal life, rather than deterrence from the state or non-state actors, that motivated them to comply. Regarding chainsaw operators, the violating activity was basically poverty-driven in the sense that it provides them with livelihood support. It also accounts for the bulk of lumber consumed locally and attracts low sanctions when violators are caught. Again, the study found that, the general socio-politico-economic context of the regulated actors and regulators exhibits traits that undermined compliance and enforcement efforts.All these demonstrate that enhancing compliance is a complex phenomenon and not just a straight forward calculation of increasing sanctions to achieve a higher level of compliance, as deterrence theory would like us to believe. More than that, compliance has other dimensions as well including social and normative motivations, and capacity to comply. What is important then for policymakers and practitioners to enhance compliance among various regulated actors is to understand how different actors respond to different compliance motivations under various socio-politico-economic and cultural settings. Show less
This paper examines the productive role of secrecy in the nexus of transnational mobility, kinship, and intimate relations among Ghanaian-Dutch and Somali-Dutch in the Netherlands. Whereas secrecy... Show moreThis paper examines the productive role of secrecy in the nexus of transnational mobility, kinship, and intimate relations among Ghanaian-Dutch and Somali-Dutch in the Netherlands. Whereas secrecy is typically understood as one person concealing knowledge from another, implying the latter’s passivity, we argue that secrecy depends on mutually constitutive interactions. Secrecy is explored as the result of an interaction between those who obscure knowledge in creative ways and those who maintain a not-knowing. The paper analyzes how people negotiate moral expectations regarding sexuality, respect, and loyalty, while also manoeuvring to fulfil their personal aspirations. Especially in kinship relations, when people are bound to each other by moral and social obligations, the management of secrecy often makes people mutually dependent. Secrecy is revealed as skillfully choreographing relations by the ebb and flow of information where kinship, respect, or love and (not-) knowing reinforce another. Show less
Building on the limitations of the efforts of aid agencies and non-governmental organisations to pull the poor out of poverty in low- and middle-income countries and declining opportunities for... Show moreBuilding on the limitations of the efforts of aid agencies and non-governmental organisations to pull the poor out of poverty in low- and middle-income countries and declining opportunities for market expansion in high-income countries, microfranchising is being promoted as a pro-poor business model, which promotes entrepreneurship. Sub-Saharan Africa has become a fertile ground for the propagation of this model. However, contemporary studies on microfranchising have not sufficiently explored what motivates people to turn to this method of doing business. Show less
Oil communities rarely appear as case studies of local political arenas in Africa. More often, they serve to reify tropes and concepts based on rent-seeking and resource curses where a cash nexus... Show moreOil communities rarely appear as case studies of local political arenas in Africa. More often, they serve to reify tropes and concepts based on rent-seeking and resource curses where a cash nexus conditions the political behavior of local, regional, national, and international actors. Chapters 3 and 4 detail the history and recent history of political institutions and livelihoods in Gamba, Gabon, followed by applications of three approaches in Chapters 5 and 6 to determine what best explains politically-impacted change in this oil-bearing community. Chapter 7 applies the same method of historicization and theoretical application to Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, but in a condensed manner. The history of extractive economies in sub-Saharan Africa has obfuscated local contributions to political development, while the inverse is true of essentialist approaches. My research hopes to reconcile this, using a body of literature which has yet to be applied to extractive spaces and which allows communities to “speak for themselves” and acknowledges the understudied condition of local politics in Africa. Oil extraction in this paradigm is no longer both cause and consequence of anomie, but another form of “sedimentation.” Show less
Abejirinde, I.O.O.; Zweekhorst, M.; Bardaji, A.; Abugnaba-Abanga, R.; Apentibadek, N.; Brouwere, V. de; ... ; Marchal, B. 2018
This research project aims at understanding the expectations and motivations of young women in Ghana's Upper East region with regard to starting their own business. Supporting the owners of small... Show more This research project aims at understanding the expectations and motivations of young women in Ghana's Upper East region with regard to starting their own business. Supporting the owners of small-scale businesses in the informal economy has become a central objective of the global development agenda. Using an anthropological approach, this research contributes to and criticizes the dominant discourse on the need to advance entrepreneurship. It argues that the theoretical discourse underlying efforts to advance entrepreneurship among the poor are fundamentally flawed. Four cross-cutting issues should be taken into account: the weak conceptualization of entrepreneurship in development discourse; the neglect of the socio-economic context in which "entrepreneurial" activities take place; the importance of cultural and psychological factors; and the ongoing attractiveness that entrepreneurship carries for development policymakers. These issues are relevant to the situation of seamstresses in Bolgatanga, but also apply to a wider field. Based on the stories of seamstresses in Bolgatanga, this thesis is an appeal to rethink policies designed to promote (female) entrepreneurship among the poor. It calls into question the portrayal of self-employment as "entrepreneurship" and the depiction of poverty as an individual problem.This book is based on Merel van ‘t Wouts’ Master's thesis ‘Entrepreneurs by the grace of God : life and work of seamstresses in Bolgatanga, Ghana’, winner of the African Studies Centre, Leiden's 2015 Africa Thesis Award. This annual award for Master's students encourages student research and writing on Africa and promotes the study of African cultures and societies. Show less
Conflicts are multi causal and remain an inevitable part of human existence, and Africa like other parts of the world has had to grapple with the phenomenon. The Northern Region of Ghana has over... Show moreConflicts are multi causal and remain an inevitable part of human existence, and Africa like other parts of the world has had to grapple with the phenomenon. The Northern Region of Ghana has over the years been a hotbed of conflicts as several communities have gained notoriety for frequent violent disturbances. Though the “North” is not the only place of simmering tensions and conflicts since colonial times, the violent nature and intractability of some conflicts which often make the headlines for obviously “bad” reasons leaves much to be desired This paper examines Northern Ghana’s intractable conflicts many of which have partisan and political undertones, and have served as fodder to exacerbate; chieftaincy succession conflicts, land and boundary disputes, and others that may arise from competing group interests. More importantly, some of these disputes may directly be as a result of struggle for political power or domination. Whilst relying on textual or content analysis of conflicts in Ghana and Africa the author also makes use of, interviews, personal observation and experiences gained from the area under discussion. Resource persons and researchers, some from these conflict areas offered great insight for this write-up. Show less
This paper focuses on informal workers in Makola Market, Accra (Ghana), and the ways in which they organize for collective action. Ghana has a long history of trade and this makes for well... Show moreThis paper focuses on informal workers in Makola Market, Accra (Ghana), and the ways in which they organize for collective action. Ghana has a long history of trade and this makes for well-developed and culturally embedded local institutions that have organized and represented the (informal) workersactive in markets. A prominent example is the market queens, who (cl)aim to oversee, protect and promote markets vis-a-vis the public and the (municipal) government. Yet, these social structures are not easily recognized as a kind of social movement by (inter)national trade unions. Hence trade unioninterventions and outreaches aimed at ameliorating the plight of informal workers tend to bypass and antagonize these existing formations, fuelling competition and division in the already fragmented and inherently competitive market space. Based on 2.5 year-long ethnographic research on strategic actors in inclusive development with a focus on informal workers, this article draws attention to empirical realities in Ghana. It demonstrates that bypassing culturally embedded groups is problematic because it feeds fragmentation and thus limits the possibilities for collective action. Show less
This paper focuses on informal workers in Makola Market, Accra (Ghana), and the ways in which they organize for collective action. Ghana has a long history of trade and this makes for well... Show moreThis paper focuses on informal workers in Makola Market, Accra (Ghana), and the ways in which they organize for collective action. Ghana has a long history of trade and this makes for well-developed and culturally embedded local institutions that have organized and represented the (informal) workersactive in markets. A prominent example is the market queens, who (cl)aim to oversee, protect and promote markets vis-a-vis the public and the (municipal) government. Yet, these social structures are not easily recognized as a kind of social movement by (inter)national trade unions. Hence trade unioninterventions and outreaches aimed at ameliorating the plight of informal workers tend to bypass and antagonize these existing formations, fuelling competition and division in the already fragmented and inherently competitive market space. Based on 2.5 year-long ethnographic research on strategic actors in inclusive development with a focus on informal workers, this article draws attention to empirical realities in Ghana. It demonstrates that bypassing culturally embedded groups is problematic because it feeds fragmentation and thus limits the possibilities for collective action. Show less
The nexus between Pentecostalism and migration has been studied extensively and in divergent terms. One line of research has looked at churches founded by migrants as home away from home, helping... Show moreThe nexus between Pentecostalism and migration has been studied extensively and in divergent terms. One line of research has looked at churches founded by migrants as home away from home, helping migrants to settle in a new place and at the same time connecting them back to where they came from. Another strand has rather highlighted incorporation into a global Christendom and engagement in global spiritual warfare. Whereas the first line of research is often phrased in terms of diaspora and religion, the second one views Pentecostalism as producing globality on its own terms. With this article, we attempt to contribute to this discussion by asking how deterritorialized belonging is produced in daily Pentecostal practices. What is made present when a home is made absent? What kind of attentive practices create the presence of the Holy Spirit? In thinking with the notion of hodological care, we argue that Pentecostal churches founded by Ghanaian migrants in Southern Africa and Europe create belonging not to a “home" but to connections. They thereby produce forms of de-diasporization, which could be seen as belonging through disconnecting. Show less
This paper discusses general political and economic issues in Nawuriland during and after German colonialism. The paper argues that the legacies of German colonialism are still largely seen and... Show moreThis paper discusses general political and economic issues in Nawuriland during and after German colonialism. The paper argues that the legacies of German colonialism are still largely seen and felt in Nawuriland especially in plantation projects, land and chieftaincy. Show less
