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The Anlo-Ewe, sometimes called the quintessential sea fishermen of West Africa, are a previously non-maritime people who developed a maritime tradition. Since the mid-17th century they have attempted to domesticate the lagoons and the seas through the exploitation of salt and fish, the use of waterways as trade routes, and in the struggle to obtain security from lagoon flooding and sea erosion. This study offers a social interpretation of environmental process for the coastal lowlands of southeastern Ghana.North America: Ohio U Press ... Read more

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". . . succeeds in conveying the exciting and fascinating characterof the concert party genre, as well as showing clearly how this material can beused to rethink a number of contemporary theoretical themes and issues." -- Karin Barber

Drawing on her participation as an actress in concert party performances, oralhistories ofperformers, and archival research, Catherine M. Cole traces thehistory and development of Ghana's concert party tradition.Cole shows howconcert parties combined an eclectic array of cultural influences, adaptingcharacters and songs from American movies, popular British ballads, and localstorytelling traditions into a spirited blend of comedy and social commentary.

A companion video, Stageshakers!, by Nathan Kwame Braun, brings the concertparty to life for English-speaking audiences. ... Read more

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Wait, there's more!A Video!
Stage-Shakers! Ghana's Concert Party Theatre
by Kwame Braun

A lively video documentary that brings Ghana's concert party theatre to life.

Indiana University Press

For the first time, Western audiences have access to the power and intensity of Ghana's remarkable concert party theatre through Kwame Braun's 100-minute documentary video. Stage-Shakers! brings its festive atmosphere to life by showing backstage preparation - touring, making-up, and practicing - as well as live performance footage. Interviews with key performers, both pioneers and current practitioners, reveal the concert party as a dynamic form of entertainment that is in step with popular fashion, music, song, dance, and social issues. Researched and filmed in collaboration with Catherine M. Cole, this video companion is an important extension of her book, Ghana's Concert Party Theatre.

Nothing short of superb
Cole's study of concert party, a traveling musical theater in Ghana, is nothing short of superb. Not only does she manage to show the history of these itinerant performers and the world they made and remade with every performance, but she uses her analysis of concert party as a way to talk about and problematize the theories and obsessions of our time that sometimes have overdetermined analyses of things African. That concert party performers imitated women, or wore blackface, all complicate our own academic ideas about the performance of gender, or of race, and how those might be different in Africa than in the US or Latin America. Cole's manuscript gives us a history of an African musical form in more detail than anything we have had before, and in so doing she gives us a history of class and culture in Ghana that I think will make a strong impact on African history. But it also challenges scholars to think anew about how to understand and interpret African cultural forms, and shows how limiting it is­for Africans and for academics­ to pidgeon-hole those cultural expressions into examples of buzz words and jargon. This is a book that doesn't just interrogate culture and pronounce it complicated. This is a book that looks the complications firmly in the eye and encourages them to stare right back­.Cole animates the complexities and contradictions of popular African culture to make us think more seriously, more carefully, about how race and gender take on meanings and shed connotations in societies increasingly aware of their place in the world. ... Read more

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By featuring the life histories of eight senior men, Making Men in Ghana explores the changing meaning of becoming a man in modern Africa. Stephan F. Miescher concentrates on the ideals and expectations that formed around men who were prominent in their communities when Ghana became an independent nation. Miescher shows how they negotiated complex social and economic transformations and how they dealt with their mounting obligations and responsibilities as leaders in their kinship groups, churches, and schools. Not only were notions about men and masculinity shaped by community standards, but they were strongly influenced by imported standards that came from missionaries and other colonial officials. As he recounts the life histories of these men, Miescher reveals that the passage to manhood -- and a position of power, seniority, authority, and leadership -- was not always welcome or easy. As an important foil for studies on women and femininity, this groundbreaking book not only explores masculinity and ideals of male behavior, but offers a fresh perspective on African men in a century of change.

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This work contributes to the fields of political science, sociology, development, economics, and international relations to furnish an understanding of the role and impact of one of Africa's, and indeed the entire Third World's, leading political figures. ... Read more

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The History of Ashanti Kings and the Whole Country Itself is a key text for understanding the history of the great West African kingdom of Asante (now in Ghana). It is also an early--and perhaps the earliest--example of history writing in English by an African ruler and his amanuenses. It was begun in 1907 in the Seychelles on the instructions of the Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I, who had been in British captivity with his family since 1896, during which time he had acquired proficiency in English.

The chief source of information was his mother the Asantehemaa Yaa Kyaa, who possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the oral history of her own lineage, which was also the royal dynasty of Asante. The result is an indispensably detailed document that charts the history of the Asante monarchy from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Context is provided by the inclusion of other writings by or about Agyeman Prempeh, together with four introductory essays by the world's leading scholars of Asante history.

This fascinating volume evokes the rich historical experience of a renowned kingdom, and is of compelling interest to all concerned with the production of indigenous historical knowledge in Africa.
... Read more

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Drawing on evidence from several disciplines, Ann Brower Stahl reconstructs the daily lives of Banda villagers of west central Ghana, from the time that they were drawn into the Niger trade (around 1300 AD) until British overrule was established early in the twentieth century. The case study aims to closely integrate perspectives drawn from archaeology, history and anthropology in African studies. ... Read more

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Making the Town is the social history of a West African urban community, the Ga people of Accra, Ghana, from the 1860s to the 1920s. ... Read more

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This is a key text for understanding the history of the great West African kingdom of Asante (now in Ghana). It is perhaps the earliest example of history writing in English by an African ruler. The result is an indispensably detailed account of the Asante monarchy from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Context is provided by the inclusion of other writings by or about Agyeman Prempeh, together with four introductory essays by the world's leading scholars of Asante history. ... Read more

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Extremely valuable
Excellent example of primary research material. The labors of the authors have provided us with an original manuscript and comments. Invaluable for scholarly research. ... Read more

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Charismatic Christianity is the most recent and fastest growing expression of Pentecostal religion in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana's capital, Accra, the charismatic churches dominate the religious scene. This book focuses on the gender discourses of Ghana's new churches, and considers charismatic perspectives on womanhood, manhood, marriage and family life. Offering a fresh perspective on the organisational structures of the charismatic churches, this study looks at the leadership roles of female pastors and pastors' wives, and draws attention to the links between female leaders and spiritual power. By highlighting the importance of spiritual power in interpreting gendered social change, the book sheds new light on the socio-cultural role of Ghana's new churches. ... Read more

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In these lively life stories, women market traders from Ghana comment on changing social and economic times and on reasons for their prosperity or decline in fortunes. Gracia Clark shows that market women are intimately connected with economic policy on a global scale. Many work at the intersection of sophisticated networks of transnational commerce and migration. They have dramatic memories of independence and the growth of their new nation, including political rivalries, price controls, and violent raids on the market. The experiences of these women give substance to their reflections on globalization, capital accumulation, colonialism, technological change, environmental degradation, teenage pregnancy, marriage, children, changing gender roles, and spirituality. Clark's commentary illuminates the complex historical and cultural setting of these deeply revealing lives.

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This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2007. The length of the article is 675 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: American Africans in Ghana: Black Expatriates and the Civil Rights Era.(American Africans in Ghana: Black Expatriates and the Civil Rights Era, The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture)(Book review)
Author: James H. Meriwether
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 73Issue: 3Page: 753(3)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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One of West Africa's earliest recipe books, "The Ghana Cookery Book" was first published in Accra in 1933. Over 800 recipes make use of a wealth of local ingredients:ripe, tropical fruit, abundant fresh fish from the Atlantic Ocean, exotic spices, and a profusion of vegetables, grains and nuts from the fertile plantations of the Gold Coast. Providing a fascinating, unique snapshot of West African cuisine during the colonial period, "The Ghana Cookery Book" features a number of charming period advertisements, and is packed with vintage hints and tips on running a household in tropical Africa. If you have an interest in West Africa and the cultural histories of the region, this book makes for essential and enjoyable reading. ... Read more

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DO NOT NUY IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR TRADITIONAL AFRICAN COOKING. THIS IS MORE OF A WESERN STYLE COOKING RATHER THAN AFRICAN!
This book is more of a western type oF a book, DO NOT PURCHASE IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR TRADITIONAL TYPE COOKING. IT'S EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING! AND, NOT WORTH THE PRICE! ... Read more

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Urban agriculture is an important practice in developing contries, and it is seen as one of the means of alleviating poverty. Consequently, it is increasingly drawing the attention of international organizations like the United Nations, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, and others. The United Nations and the IDRC, for example, have individually created units to deal with the practice and have both sponsored research in this area. In addition to exploring the economic importance of urban agriculture, this book looks in detail at the sociological issues involved such as social inequality and gender. ... Read more

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This study of Nkrumah provides a compelling account of one of the most significant politicians in post-colonial Africa. Hadjor argues that although Nkrumah’s experiment failed, it continues to have relevance for Africa today. He also illustrates how certain mistakes were unavoidable during Nkrumah’s time. He writes of the clarity of Nkrumah’s vision, which helps to throw light on the problems many Africans face today. In this important way, Hadjor’s reworking of the essential themes of Nkrumah’s presidency contributes to the debate on the political future of Africa and promises to give focus to the recent revival of interest in Nkrumah.

From the Author’s Conclusion:

Nkrumah...always managed to stay ahead of his time. If anything, his greatest tragedy was the fact that he was so much ahead of those around him. Very few were able to follow the implications of Nkrumah’s perspective. Even those who were often inspired by his vision could not, on their own, follow on the right road.

Nkrumah’s legacy of thought retains its vitality precisely because it is the intellectual product of Africa’s historical experience. With Nkrumah, ideas point the way to action and develop further through action. It is this dialectic between ideas and action that made Nkrumah such a sensitive tribune of the people. He captured the mood and aspirations of his people and translated them into a universal message for Africa and for black people everywhere. That is why African Americans can so readily identify with the perspective outlined by him.

Nkrumah requires not adulation but consideration. All Africans owe a debt of gratitude to his liberating vision. The best way to repay the debt is for a new generation of Africans to learn for themselves the value of study and political education. Africans need not only to share his dream, but also to share his determination to build a new Africa. ... Read more

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The focus is on the history of the Anlo-Ewe of south-eastern Ghana from the 17th-19th centuries, though in the last two chapters the author extends her analysis to the 20th century. The changing boundary between 'we' and 'they' is documented, as the community absorbed refugees, traders and conquerors. As family elders competed for limited resources, they began to sacrifice the interests of young women under their authority. The women reacted against being marginalized, and aligned themselves with non-kin, who most often were religiously influential ethnic outsiders in the community. By the end of the 19th century, the boundary between 'we' and 'they', and the way in which men and women interacted, had changed significantly.North America: Heinemann ... Read more

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Facing Two Ways explores the interaction between European and African Cultures within the setting of Ghana's main coastal communities. Roger S. Gocking focuses on the emergence of a distinctive ethno-cultural constellation that arose from the interaction between African and European cultures and between African cultures in the heterogeneous social setting of the coast. He recognizes nationalism as the most visible, but not necessarily the most important feature of life in coastal Africa from the late nineteenth century through the 1940's. Instead, Gocking emphasizes local initiatives in shaping African reactions to the colonial situation, including the policies of the mission churches, the operation of the judicial system, political life, and the institution of the family. He also discusses the escalation of cross fertilization of African cultures, known as the "Akanization" of the Southern Ghana area indirectly caused by colonialism. ... Read more

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The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa commissioned case studies of higher education provision in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, as part of its effort to stimulate enlightened, equitable, and knowledge-based national development, and to provide guides to understanding. This study is set in the context of Ghana's socioeconomic realities, in an economy dominated by structural adjustment programming, fiscal restraint and Ghana's recent status as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC). Ghana's public universities have faced competition from offshore universities as well as from non-university centres of knowledge production and research. This new competition is taking place within the context of neo-liberal economic policies characterized by market-led reforms and private sector initiatives. Analyses the different strategies and measures that the universities have taken to expand enrollment, generate additional funding and review curricula and modes of operation in an attempt to respond to these challenges. In association with Partnership for Higher Education in Africa; Ghana: Woeli Publishing Services ... Read more

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This book is an attempt to recapture the liberation philosophy of Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972), first prime minister and first president of the Republic of Ghana in West Africa.The goals of this study are threefold: first, it is to make a scholarly contribution to the ongoing discussion for the development of a theoretical basis upon which modern Ghanaian sociopolitical, sociocultural, socioe-conomic, and sociohuman development can be built.Second, it is to offer the contemporary Ghanaian religious institutions a paradigm for developing an advocacy role in the building of civil society in Ghana.Ghana is in cultural, political, and religious transition and needs an indigenous conceptual basis to direct its practices now and in the future.Third, the book seeks to recapitulate Ghana’s self-dignity, self-realization, and self-subsistence by highlighting the essential assumptions, dimensions, and specificities of “African Personhood” reclaimed and repossessed through a human-oriented practice and reflection of orthopraxis. Consequently, the study claims that Nkrumah’s liberation thought and action are relevant and paradigmatic for present-day religion and state in Ghana.It is argued in this study that from the African political and economic viewpoint, Nkrumah advocated a socialist system created out of the inculturation of African religio-humanist values with the inherited Euro-Christian political culture and social tradition as a strategy to liberate, unite, and integrate Ghana and the rest of Africa.Nkrumah made the Ghanaian orAfrican people and their situations the basis of any ideological inculturation, theological discussions, and actions. Using both secular and religious sources and adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this study reappraises the precolonial social and political system in Ghana and assesses the impact of British colonial and postcolonial hegemonies on the state, religion, and civil society.With a view to reconstructing a new advocacy role for themselves in the Ghanaian society in the recapitulation of Ghana’s self-appraisal, self-dignity, self-realization, self-subsistence, and self-assertion, it is argued here that the diverse religious communities, the state, and multi-ethnic groups (indigenous states, aman) in Ghana must endeavor to coexist peacefully, eliminate ethnocentrism, act with courage and hope, and affirm and practice equitable co-existence. ... Read more