Shaping tradition : civil society, community and development in colonial northern Ghana, 1899-1957 / by Jeff D. Grischow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Grischow, Jeff D. (Jeff Douglas), 1965-

Series:

African social studies series ; v. 14.

African social studies series, 1568-1203 ; v. 14

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civil society--Ghana--History--20th century.

Civil society.

Community development--Ghana--History--20th century.

Community development.

Ghana--Economic conditions--20th century.

Ghana.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (278 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Civil society, community and development in colonial northern Ghana, 1899-1957

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston [Mass.] : Brill, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Using Northern Ghana as a case study, this book challenges the invocation of civil society as a tool for building community in the name of development. Far from equating civil society with community, colonial officials used the doctrine of community against African civil society. For colonial officers, civil society represented the corruption of authentic development, which could be avoided only by protecting traditional peasant communities in the face of economic transformation. The book charts this colonial program, from the creation of "native states" in the early twentieth century to an ambitious agricultural mechanisation scheme in the late 1940s. In its challenge to current writing on civil society, the study offers an important contribution to African history and development studies.

Contents:

Civil society, community and development in colonial northern Ghana, 1899-1957

From developing the estates to preserving the peasantry: development in the northern territories, 1895-1919

Corruptions of development and the "steep slope of civilisation", 1919-1933

Developing community: land, native administration and direct taxation, 1928-1936

Overpopulation, depopulation and the loss of productive power: development in the Zuarungu and Lawra-Tumu districts, 1935-44

Questioning mixed farming, tsetse eradication and indirect rule, 1940-1949

Land planning, local government and party politics, 1940-1957

Mechanised agriculture and community development, 1948-1957.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [243]-254) and index.

ISBN:

1-281-40016-5

9786611400163

90-474-1023-8

OCLC:

298788337

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789047410232 DOI