Local Aspirants and Politicised Chieftaincy Disputes: Evidence from Northern Ghana
Dados Bibliográficos
| AUTOR(ES) | |
|---|---|
| AFILIAÇÃO(ÕES) | College of Applied Science and Technology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA |
| ANO | 2025 |
| TIPO | Artigo |
| PERIÓDICO | Africa Spectrum |
| ISSN | 0002-0397 |
| E-ISSN | 1868-6869 |
| EDITORA | Publisher 41 |
| DOI | 10.1177/00020397241271303 |
| ADICIONADO EM | 2025-08-18 |
Resumo
Why do politicians intervene in some chieftaincy succession disputes but not others? The key actors and their motivations in these processes remain understudied. In this article I leverage a comparative analysis of two similar chieftaincy disputes in Ghana's Upper West Region, and develop inductively a theory of local aspirants – political actors with dual memberships in chieftaincy and politics. I find that local aspirants from disputing factions that seek to change the status quo of the dispute have particular interests in politicising the chieftaincy disputes. These findings contribute to our knowledge about how chieftaincy disputes become politicised, by emphasising the roles played by politicians embedded in chieftaincy.