Continuity and change in a West African society : globalization's impact on the Sisala of Ghana / Eugene L. Mendonsa.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Mendonsa, Eugene L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Sisala (African people)--Economic conditions.
• Sisala (African people)--Social conditions.
• Sustainable development--Ghana.
• Sustainable development.
• Sisala (African people).
• Social conditions.
• Economic conditions.
• Ghana.

Physical Description:

xiii, 425 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Durham, N.C. : Carolina Academic Press, [2001]

Contents:

• Old and New in Sisalaland 7
• Some Theory about the Distillation of the Political Economy 11
• My View of Culture 17
• Chapter I. Sisala History: War, Trade and Chiefs 21
• Governance: In the Beginning 21
• The Coming of the Slave Wars and Trade 23
• The Sisala in History: Local and Global Influences 27
• Sipaalaaraa and the Rise of Wartime Leadership 29
• Nucleation and the Defense of Villages 39
• Summary: The Influence of Opportunities 44
• The Role of "Chief" Dolbizan in the Zabarima Slave Wars 46
• The Relation of Dolbizan to the Zabarima Slavers 49
• The Nature of Yalingbong, the War Rock 51
• The Siege at Yalingbong 53
• Dolbizan and the Zabarima: Summary and Conclusions 55
• The Establishment of Chiefs by the Colonials: The French 57
• The Establishment of Chiefs by the Colonials: The British 57
• Governance Today 63
• Chapter II. The Changing Family 69
• The Past: Material Conditions and Structure 69
• The 1978 Household Structure 76
• The Petrofarming Revolution and Market Demand, 1998 80
• The 1998 Household Structure 85
• Chapter III. Prostitution, Sex and Marriage 105
• Chapter IV. Changing Marriage Patterns 129
• The Political Economy of Marriage 129
• Marriage Defined 131
• Bridewealth Payments 133
• The Prestations and Transactions of Marriage 137
• Returnability of the Bridewealth 140
• Legitimacy and Patrimony 141
• A Case of a Bridewealth Payment in Default 144
• Chapter V. Divination as Negotiation 155
• The Divinatory Process 155
• The Five Stages in Divination 157
• 1. Contact 157
• 2. Opening of the Bag 158
• 3. Invocation of the Ancestors 158
• 4. Removal of the Code Objects 159
• 5. Interrogation 160
• Postdivinatory Sacrifice 161
• A New Theoretical Frame to Look at Divination 164
• Divination as Negotiation 166
• The Case of Marifa's Divination 173
• Discussion of the Data 178
• Chapter VI. Political Strategies by Sisala Elders 185
• Action Behind the Aegis of Office: Introductory Theory 185
• The Strategies in Divination 198
• Chapter VII. Women's Work in the Past 219
• The Position of Women in the Gerontocracy 219
• Women's Roles in the Past Economy 220
• Why Didn't Sisala Women Farm in the Past? 224
• The Awareness of Women about Their Plight 226
• Behavioral Latitude for Women 229
• A Bitter Taste of Freedom Lost 230
• Chapter VIII. The Resurgence of Traction-Plowing: Implications for Sustainable Development 237
• The Agrarian System in 1971 238
• The Agrarian System in 1998 240
• Population Pressure and Land 243
• Sustainability of the Introduced Farming Methods 245
• The Sustainability of Bullock Traction Technology 250
• Implications for Development Planners 253
• Chapter IX. Changing Sisala Women 263
• Gendered Farm Statistics and Comparisons 264
• Women's Entry into Farming 272
• Conclusions and Development Recommendations 292
• Preliminary Summary Remarks 295
• A Reiteration of My View of Culture 298
• The Wealth-in-People System 300
• Ritual Control of People and Wealth 304
• The Survival of the Lineage 307
• Why Continuity and Why Change? Some Theory 315
• The Exogenous/Endogenous Change Debate 331
• The Legacy of Development Theory: The Evolutionary Model 333
• The Legacy of Development Theory: The Ecological Model 337
• Globalization's Impact in Africa and Sisalaland 338
• Globalization's Impact: Two Scenarios of the Future 342
• Scenario I. The Rosy Future 343
• Scenario II. The Dreary Future 344
• Sustainability: The Key to Any Future 346
• Chapter XI. A Postmodernist Postscript: Initial Naivete and Present-Day Plans 351
• First Fieldwork 351
• Personal Change and the Emergence of Salia Bujan 353
• Background and Plans of Nenkentie and Salia 357.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 375-392) and index.

ISBN:

0890896372

OCLC:

49912641