From head-loading to the iron horse : railway building in colonial Ghana and the origins of tropical development / Komla Tsey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tsey, Komla.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Railroads--Ghana.

Railroads.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (258 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Mankon, Bamenda : Langaa Research & Pub. CIG, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

International development has its origins in the histories of nineteenth and early twentieth-century European colonisation. What happens when a leading colonial power decides to transform a model tropical colony, relying on head-loading of goods as the predominant form of transport, into a modern market economy on the back of the greatest British industrial ingenuity of the time railways? In this meticulously researched book, Komla Tsey brings to light the historical origins of a wide range of issues confronting present-day international development researchers and policy-makers, such as technology transfer, wealth creation versus equity of access, and ways to evaluate the benefits of development work, especially across cultures. In the context of the early twenty-first-century international investment interests in resource-rich Africa, Tsey argues, forensic historical research is required to determine the precise nature and scale of the financial and humanitarian injustices committed by British colonialists during the construction of major public works projects. More than providing opportunities to take possible legal actions for reparations, this research should also serve as a reminder to present-day African policy-makers and their international and local business partners that the injustices and blatant abuses of power of the past should never be repeated.

Contents:

""Cover ""; ""Title page ""; ""Copyright page ""; ""Acknowledgements""; ""About the Author""; ""Contents ""; ""List of Tables""; ""List of Maps and Figures""; ""Introduction""; ""Part I ""; ""Chapter 1 - A Slow Beginning, 1879-1895 ""; ""Chapter 2 - The Development of the Western Line, 1895-1912 ""; ""Governor Maxwell and the Malayan Paradigm of Tropical Development""; ""Construction of the Sekondi - Tarkwa Line""; ""The Tarkwa - Kumasi Extension ""; ""The Kumasi Railway and Ashanti Politics ""; ""The Mining Companies and Construction of Branch Lines ""

""Policy Implications of the Western Line """"Chapter 3 - The Eastern Line and the Development of Lighterage Ports, 1904-1918 ""; ""Sir John Rodger and the Rearticulation of the Tropical Malayan Paradigm""; ""The Construction of the Accra - Mangoase Line ""; ""The mount Ejuamena Bauxite Deposits and the proposed Tafo-Kumasi Extensions ""; ""The Development of Lighterage Ports""; ""The Eastern Line and Port Developments in Context""; ""Chapter 4 - Post-War Expansion - The Ten-Year Development Plan 1920-1930 ""; ""Post-War Reconstruction in Britain and the Notion of �ColonialDevelopment' ""

""Governor Guggisberg: The Ten-Year Development Plan and Takoradi Harbour""""Railways and Roads""; ""Part II ""; ""Chapter 5 - The Recruitment of COnstruction Workers and Colonial Labour Policy ""; ""Recruitment for the Sekondi-Kumasi Line, 1898-1903 ""; ""Recruitment for Railways and Lighterage ports, 1905-1918 ""; ""The Post-War Labour Problems""; ""Chapter 6 - The Acquisition of Railway and Harbour Land and Colonial Land Policy ""; ""General Problems of Land Acquisition in Railway Construction""; ""The Gold Coast Land Act 1876 and the Railways""

""The 1876 Land Act and Commercial Developments""""The Problems of Land Acquisition at Takoradi""; ""Total Land Owned by the Railway and Harbours""; ""Chapter 7 - Railway investment and Colonial Financial Policy ""; ""Chapter 8 - The Management System, Personnel and Labour Relations ""; ""Labour: Managerial, Technical and Unskilled""; ""Workers� Grievances and Labour Relations""; ""Chapter 9 - Operational Problems and Issues ""; ""Safety and Maintenance""; ""Tariff Policy""; ""Administrative Actions""; ""Efficiency""; ""Profitability""; ""Part III ""

""Chapter 10 - The Economic and Social Impact of the Railways """"The Scale of Railway Innovation""; ""Backward Linkages: A Stimulus for the Gold Coast Economy or Markets for the Metropolitan Industries?""; ""Forward Linkages: Production for Domestic Needs or Extraction of Raw Materials for Metropolitan Industries?""; ""Chapter 11 - Railways: Commerce and Crafts, Urbanisation and Public Health ""; ""Commerce and Crafts""; ""Urbanisation and Public Health""; ""Chapter 12 - Railways and Economic Development: The Gold Coast Experience in the Global Context ""

""An advanced Industrial Economy (Britain) ""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9789956728589

9956728586

9789956728701

9956728705

9789956728466

9956728462

OCLC:

905997544