Political belonging in the Ghana-Togo borderlands : citizenship and the vote at the margins of the state / Nathalie Raunet.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Raunet, Nathalie, author.

Series:

African studies series.

African studies series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Borderlands--Ghana.

Borderlands.

Borderlands--Togo.

Ghana--Politics and government.

Ghana.

Togo--Politics and government.

Togo.

Ghana--Foreign relations--Togo.

Togo--Foreign relations--Ghana.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xix, 320 pages) : illustrations (black and white), maps (black and white), digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026.

Summary:

Analysing the interaction between belonging, nation-state and the vote in the Ghana-Togo borderlands, this study interrogates how political community is constructed in the region. Nathalie Raunet contextualises the electoral debate on cross-border voting in Ghana in 2016 using archival research, interviews, oral tradition and newspaper analysis.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title

Reviews

Series information

Title page

Imprints page

Dedication

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Maps

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

Note on Orthography and Translation

List of Abbreviations

1 'Nation' in the Ghana-Togo Borderlands

1.1 Citizenship or Belonging?

1.2 Indigeneity, Recognition and Contestation

1.3 When Saying Is Doing: Narratives in the Construction of Political Communities in the Borderlands

1.4 Structure of the Book

Part I The Colonial Encounter and the (Re)making of Political Communities

2 Space and History: Palimpsestic Political Communities in the Border Region

2.1 Introduction

2.2 'We Are One' vs 'We Are Different': Traces of Palimpsestic Political Communities in the Borderlands Today

2.3 Overlapping Communities in a Historical Frontier Zone

2.4 Accounting for the Persistence of Nation-Building Projects in the Border Region

2.5 Conclusion

3 'We Are All from Notse': From the Remnants of Ewe Nationalism to a Transnational Political Community

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Ewe Ethnogenesis and the Scalar and Lineage Logic of the Dukɔ

3.3 The Ewe Newsletters and the Construction of an Ewe Political Community

3.4 Oral Tradition and Festivals

3.5 Conclusion

4 Regional and Local Political Belonging: Recognition or Contestation of Authority in the South East of the Gold Coast from the 1910s to the 2010s

4.1 Introduction

4.2 A Historical Context and 'Seniority': Anlo State Building, Dzodze's Subjugation and the Colonial Administration

4.3 Contestation of Seniority, Disputed Anlo Authority and the Chieftaincy Dispute in Dzodze

4.4 The Importance of Authoritative Historical Narratives to Establish Seniority, Native Custom and (Un)make Political Belonging. . .

4.5 How Are Seniority and Legitimacy Claimed Nowadays?.

4.6 Conclusion

Part II Legal Citizenship, Indigeneity and the Nation-State

5 'Sons and Daughters of the Soil': The Convergence of Citizenship towards Indigeneity in Ghana

5.1 Introduction

5.2 The Origins of Citizenship in Ghana: British Subjects, Natives and Non-natives

5.3 Jus sanguinis and the Aliens Compliance Order as a Turning Point

5.4 Indigeneity's Conundrum: Who Were the First Settlers?

5.5 Conclusion

6 Belonging Less to the Nation: Rumour, Contestation and the Politicization of Precarious Belonging in the Volta Region

6.1 Introduction

6.2 'Belonging Less' and the Threat of Expulsion

6.3 Dividing Narratives in Newspapers: Feeling of Neglect and Expression of Suspicion

6.4 Political Parties' Politicization of Precarious Belonging for Electoral Purposes

6.5 Conclusion

Part III Cross-Border Voting and Its Impact on Ghana-Togo Relations and Elections

7 Wooing the Vote in the Borderlands: Local Gatekeeping in National Elections

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Who Is Who and Local Knowledge about Identity

7.3 Gatekeeping and Cross-Border Voting: Locating the Individual in the Local and the Transnational

7.4 Cross-Border Voting and Community-Level Interests

7.5 Conclusion

8 The Enemy Within, the Enemy Next Door: Eyadema's Attempts to Neutralize the Transnational 'Ewe Threat'

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Historical Context

8.3 'When Togo Coughs, Ghana Gets a Cold': Continuity in Ghana-Togo Relations at the Beginning of the 1990s

8.4 Elections and Cross-Border Dynamics as Opportunities to Destabilize the Neighbouring Country

8.5 Conclusion

9 Conclusion: Palimpsestic Political Communities

9.1 The Power of the Local Level and the Resilience of Older Political Structures

9.2 The Nation-State Paradigm in Question

Annex: List of Interviews

References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-009-67436-6

1-009-67438-2

1-009-67440-4