Is Land Inalienable? Historical and Current Debates on Land Transfers in Northern Ghana

Africa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carola Lentz
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Land Ownership ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
The Political ◽  
Land Conflicts ◽  
West Region ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
Region I ◽  
History Of

The article traces the history of debates on land transfers in northern Ghana and discusses the ways in which African and European views on land tenure influenced and instrumentalized each other. Using the case of Nandom in the Upper West Region, I analyse how an expansionist group of Dagara farmers gained access to and legitimized control over land previously held by a group of Sisala hunters and farmers claiming to be the ‘first-comers’ to the area. Both groups acknowledge that the Sisala eventually transferred land to the Dagara immigrants, symbolically effected by the transmission of an earth-shrine stone. However, the Sisala interpret this historical event in terms of a ‘gift’, invoking the language of kinship and continued dependency, while the Dagara construe it in terms of a ‘purchase’, implicating exchange, equality and autonomy. These different perspectives, as well as colonial officials' ideas that land ownership was ultimately vested in the ancestors of the first-comer lineage and therefore ‘inalienable’, have shaped early disputes about the Nandom earth shrine and Dagara property rights. Competing conceptions of pre-colonial African land tenure continue to provide powerful arguments in current land conflicts, and shrinking land reserves as well as the political implications of landed property, in the context of decentralization policies, have exacerbated the debate on the ‘inalienability’ of land.

‘TE NYƆGEYƐNG GBENGBENG!’ (‘WE ARE HOLDING THE UMBRELLA VERY TIGHT!’): EXPLAINING THE POPULARITY OF THE NDC IN THE UPPER WEST REGION OF GHANA

Africa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
George M. Bob-Milliar
Keyword(s):  
Regional Level ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
The Political ◽  
West Region ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Region I ◽  
General Elections ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Memories

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the reasons why, since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1992, the Upper West Region (UWR) has become one of the strongholds of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in northern Ghana. In all five general elections to date, the NDC has won more than half of the presidential vote and over 70 per cent of the parliamentary seats. The article explores the factors that explain the NDC's electoral dominance in the UWR. At the regional level the accepted argument has been that the NDC's predecessor extended developments to the area. However, if voting preferences are based on development considerations, why didn't loyalty shift to the NPP? I argue that political loyalty is generational and that the popularity of the NDC in the UWR can be understood through an appreciation of the recent history of the region. On 14 January 1983, PNDC Law 41 decreed the creation of the Upper West Region, carved out of what was then the Upper Region. I conclude that the political and socio-economic opportunities that came along with decentralization are historical memories of high value, which the NDC capitalizes on in its electioneering campaigns.

Pragmatism, Practice and the Politics of Critique

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Livingston
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
James Baldwin ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cultural Critique ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
American Pragmatism ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Practices

Colin Koopman’s Pragmatism as Transition offers an argumentative retelling of the history of American pragmatism in terms of the tradition’s preoccupation with time. Taking time seriously offers a venue for reorienting pragmatism today as a practice of cultural critique. This article examines the political implications third wave pragmatism’s conceptualization of time, practice, and critique. I argue that Koopman’s book opens up possible lines of inquiry into historical practices of critique from William James to James Baldwin that, when followed through to their conclusion, trouble some of the book’s political conclusions. Taking time and practice seriously, as transitionalism invites pragmatists to do, demands pluralizing critique in a way that puts pressure on familiar pragmatist convictions concerning liberalism, progress, and American exceptionalism.

scholarly journals Ethnographic Memories

1969 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-18
Author(s):  
Maxime Polleri
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Personal Knowledge ◽  
The Political ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
Politics Of Knowledge ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
History Of

This article explores the similarities between a memoir and an ethnographic work. A memoir stands as an historical account written from personal knowledge. It is a form of writing that should resonate deeply within the heart of the anthropologist, whose very own specificity is to be, first and foremost, an ethnographer. That is, anthropologists are individuals full of (hi) stories, contingence, and subjectivity, who nevertheless struggle to bring “objective” accounts of what had happened under their eyes during fieldwork. I use this short comparative act as a jumping board to examine the politics of knowledge in the history of anthropological inquiry since the Enlightenment. More precisely, this comparison represents an opportunity to look at what is silently invested in the practices of ethnographical writing. In a brief discussion, I highlight the political implications that surround issues of knowledge production, expert voices, and translation amidst the discourse and narrative of anthropologists.

The limits of power: the political ecology of the Spanish Empire in the Greater Southwest

Antiquity ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 66 (250) ◽  
pp. 153-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Sheridan
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
New World ◽  
Spanish Empire ◽  
The Political ◽  
Epidemic Disease ◽  
Spanish Conquest ◽  
History Of

The Spanish conquest of the Americas was one of the most dramatic cultural and biological transformations in the history of the world. Small groups of conquistadores toppled enormous empires. Millions of Native Americans died from epidemic disease. Old World animals and plants revolutionized Native American societies, while New World crops fundamentally altered the diet and land-tenure of peasants across Europe. In the words of historian Alfred Crosby (1972: 3),The two worlds, which God had cast asunder, were reunited, and the two worlds, which were so very different, began on that day [I1 October 14921 to become alike.

USURPATION AND “THE SOCIAL” IN BENJAMIN CONSTANT'S COMMENTAIRE

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
GIANNA ENGLERT
Keyword(s):  
Social Issues ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Social ◽  
Central Elements ◽  
History Of ◽  
Religious Elements ◽  
Liberal Thought

As part of Benjamin Constant's academic “revival,” scholars have revisited the political and religious elements of his thought, but conclude that he remained uninterested in the nineteenth century's major social and economic questions. This article examines Constant's response to what would later become known as “the social question” in his Commentary on Filangieri's Work, and argues that his claims about poverty and its alleviation highlight central elements of his political liberalism, especially on the practice of citizenship in the modern age. By interpreting social issues through his original political lens of “usurpation,” Constant encouraged skepticism of social legislation and identified the political implications of a “disinherited” poor class. The lens of usurpation ultimately limited the scope of Constant's solutions to poverty. But his attention to social and economic issues prompts us to reexamine the category of “the social” and its uses in the history of liberal thought, particularly the place of class concerns in the French liberal tradition.

From ‘The Fading’ to ‘Scream with Me Never Again!’: Shoah and Jewish identity in Israeli and US metal

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itay Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Jewish Identity ◽  
Emotional Response ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
The Political ◽  
Metal Music ◽  
History Of

The Shoah is an historical event that leaves its marks on Jewish memory and thought to this day. Broadly speaking, there are two lessons of the Shoah: a particularistic one ‐ relevant to Jews only ‐ and a universalistic lesson, for all peoples. This article examines how the memory of the Shoah and these lessons contribute to the formation of Jewish identity. Works considering the Shoah of three metal bands with prominent Jewish members will be used: one Israeli-Jewish band ‐ Salem; and two multireligious American bands ‐ Anthrax and Disturbed. I will start by analysing songs about the Shoah and continue with a broader look at their entire catalogues and interviews. The ideas expressed will be understood on the background of theories considering Jewish identity and metal music and culture. This qualitative research is therefore grounded in the methodology of the history of ideas. My main findings are: (1) Most metal songs about the Shoah were written by a band with prominent Jewish members. (2) It indeed functions as a living memory affecting Jewish identity ‐ that is, values and sociopolitical beliefs. (3) All the songs analysed create engagement by arousing an emotional response in listeners. (4) While Jewish identity is clearly manifested in Salem and Disturbed’s David Draiman, it is almost absent from Anthrax’s works and Scott Ian’s ideas. (5) A stronger connection to the political realization of the Jews in Israel is likely to strengthen Jewish identity.

scholarly journals The Seizure of the Throne by Demetrius I Soter (1 Macc 7:1-4). Theological Interpretation of a Historical Event

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-32
Author(s):  
Janusz Nawrot
Keyword(s):  
Historical Event ◽  
The Political ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Human Actions ◽  
Historical Accuracy ◽  
History Of

The presented biblical material (1 Macc 7:1-4) is one of those texts that describe an event happening far away from the scope of influence exerted by the Maccabean insurgents, yet one which is closely connected with the history of the chosen people. As such, it substantially influences the successive events in the political-religious situation of the Jews. What is particularly worthy of analysis is the historical accuracy of the inspired author in presenting facts as well as the theological conception to which primary importance is given in the book. This way the history of peoples, kingdoms and societies is shown as part of God’s magnificent plans which is implemented by all participants of ongoing scenes. Such a presentation concerns both the main and supporting protagonists. The short passage of 1 Macc 7:1-4 reveals how the hagiographer, who knows the theological conception, consciously accentuates certain parts, chooses appropriate syntax and vocabularyto show God’s action in the presented characters and events. God stands behind the curtain of human actions, yet it is Him who decides about their course.

Living with friends

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Mai
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Relationship ◽  
Shared Activity ◽  
Art Form ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
History Of

This chapter examines Guédiguian’s youth in l’Estaque, a “communist” neighbourhood of Marseille, his political activism, his transition away from the Communist party, and finally a turn toward friendship as a figure for human interaction. The chapter examines the history of l’Estaque. It tells of Guédiguian’s friendship with Gérard Meylan, his meeting Ariane Ascaride, and then his disillusion with the Communist party, corresponding with his entry into filmmaking, but filmmaking that is not so much an industry or an art form as a way of “remaining with friends” through shared activity and cooperation. The chapter turns to the philosophy of friendship since Aristotle to ground this move in what Aristotle calls “eudaimonia” or the flourishing life. From there it discusses the political implications of a human relationship built on philia in a cultural period, our own, in which different figures of human interaction, the figures of the consumer and the entrepreneur are dominant. It concludes with a discussion of how Guédiguian’s cinema offers a way forward to those who have felt politically alienated during a period of economic “neoliberalism.”

Waqf as a Political Weapon

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 92-124
Author(s):  
Astrid Meier
Keyword(s):  
Initial Phase ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legal Concept ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mount Sinai ◽  
Political Weapon ◽  
The Church

Abstract The aim of this article is to highlight the political uses of the legal concept of waqf in a confrontation between an Orthodox and a Catholic institution during the initial phase of the schism within the Church of Antioch. The Monastery of St Catherine at Mount Sinai confronted the hospice of the Franciscans in the court of the Chief Judge of the province of Damascus in 1145/1733. The legal aspects of the lawsuit are an interesting example of the use of the Ottoman judiciary by non-Muslims, but in order to understand the political implications of the case, it needs to be analysed in the broader context of the religious and political tensions of the time. Therefore, a sketch of the history of both monasteries and their endowments is supplemented with a chapter on the role of Sylvestros, Patriarch of Antioch, in Damascus and an examination of the French and Spanish interests within this Ottoman context.

Legal and Informal Land Tenures in Thailand

1981 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy H. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Economic Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Structures ◽  
The Relationship

All too often the study of land tenure in agrarian states is treated either as a dimension of economic organization or, with respect to its more specifically formal characteristics, as pertaining to the sphere of law. With both approaches there is the danger of ignoring or at least underplaying the fact that the formulation and regulation of tenural arrangements is an expression of the political order of society. Paradoxically, familiarity with this idea has tended to limit its appreciation. Awareness of the ‘classic’ and explicit example of feudalism and its place in grand social theory may well direct attention away from the detailed examination of more diffuse forms of the relation between land tenure and political structures. Such a lack of interest is readily observable in the case of Thailand where the history of the relationship is both unusual and highly significant for the analysis of contemporary social change.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document