"Reply to Wilks's Commentary on "Slavery and Akan Origins
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11537132 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A Norman Klein (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1994 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 666-666 |
| Publication date | 1994-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ethnohistory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0014-1801 • E-ISSN: 1527-5477 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/482770 |
| OpenAlex | W2316633129 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
Much of Ivor Wilks's reply to my arguments in Slavery and Akan Origins? is made up of examples of my alleged misreading of his text. In fact, he is hiding behind a semantic fog. Three examples of Wilks's wordplay will suffice to illustrate how his reply misrepresents what I say and clouds the issues. First, Wilks objects that my reference to invaders from the north into the Akan forest misreads his position. Instead he speaks of traditions of migration and intruders. Well, perhaps invaders was too strong a word. I'll settle for intruding migrants. Second, Wilks objects to my use of the word slavery and speaks instead of unfree, labor that was additional to the labor required for subsistence farming. Sorry, but in the context of clearing the West African forest in the sixteenth century these imported laborers sound like old-fashioned slaves to me. Third, Wilks concludes that my remark about his particular use of Marxist theory is relatively meaningless, since I nowhere argue for the existence of 'classes,' in anything like Marx's sense, in the period in question. But read Wilks's own words in the book being reviewed
Genealogy · African history and culture studies · African Studies and Ethnography · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · History
| Citations per year | 0.22 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2017 - 2018 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |