They must be Dagaba first and any other thing second

The colonial and post‐colonial creation of ethnic identities in North‐Western Ghana

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7098045
AutoresCarola Lentz (autor de correspondencia)
Año1994
Volumen53
Número2
Páginas57-91
Fecha de publicación1994-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAfrican Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-0184 • E-ISSN: 1469-2872
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00020189408707802
OpenAlexW2248942013
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas25

The article analyses the creation of new ethnic identities in a pre‐colonial acephalous, 'non‐tribal' setting. Presenting the case of the Dagara of north‐western Ghana, I shall discuss how ethnic categories and institutions are constructed in a complex interplay by multiple actors with different interests, namely colonial administrators, newly appointed chiefs, labour migrants and the emergent educated elite. The central argument is that ethnic ideologies construe images of a natural, immutable, primordial identity, thus conveying a sense of stability, security and self‐esteem, but behind this essentialist 'facade' there is always room for multiple meanings and negotiation. I will show that the attributes of a Dagara identity are continuously re‐interpreted and constitute a battleground for many issues, for instance the political competition among different sub‐groups or the relations between educated elite and their rural kin

Aesthetics · Argument (complex analysis · Colonialism · Elite · Essentialism · Ethnic group · Gender relations · Identity (music · Ideology · Negotiation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · African history and culture studies · African Studies and Ethnography · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law