The Journal of the Ghana Studies Association
Akosua Adomako Ampofo and Stephan Miescher, Editors
A peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal of scholarly work on Ghana, the country and its people. Appears annually.
A peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal of scholarly work on Ghana, the country and its people. Appears annually.
Ghana Studies is a membership benefit of the Ghana Studies Association. To join, click here. To purchase individual issues, at $22 per issue individual and $44 institutional, contact the University of Wisconsin African Studies Program via email at publications@africa.wisc.edu, or write by surface mail to:
Ghana Studies
African Studies Program
205 Ingraham Hall
1155 Observatory Drive
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53706
Subscription rates include shipping and handling unless airmail requested. Airmail fee is an additional $20. MasterCard and VISA accepted.
Emmanuel Akyeampong (Harvard University)
Jean Allman (Washington University)
Gareth Austin (London School of Economics)
Lynne Brydon (University of Birmingham)
Francis Dodoo (University of Ghana and University of Maryland)
Takyiwaa Manuh (University of Ghana)
T. C. McCaskie (SOAS, University of London)
Birgit Meyer (Free University, Amsterdam)
David Owusu-Ansah (James Madison University)
Mansah Prah (University of Cape Coast)
Richard Rathbone (Emeritus, SOAS, University of London)
Ray Silverman (University of Michigan)
Dzodzi Tsikata (University of Ghana)
Ivor Wilks (Emeritus, Northwestern University)
Larry Yarak (Texas A&M University)
Edmund ABAKA, "'Eating Kola': The Pharmacological and Therapeutic Significance of Kola Nuts," pp. 1-10.
Kwabena AKURANG-PARRY, "Slavery and Abolition in the Gold Coast: Colonial Modes of Emancipation and African Initiatives," pp. 11-34.
Robert Kwame AMEH, "Trokosi (Child Slavery) in Ghana: A Policy Approach," pp. 35-62.
Kwadwo KONADU-AGYEMANG, "Housing Conditions and Spatial Organization in Accra, 1950s-1990s," pp. 63-90."
T. C. MCCASKIE, "Akwankwaa: Owusu Sekyere Agyeman in His Life and Times," pp. 91-122.
Richard RATHBONE, "Transferring Power in Ghana: Some Thoughts on What the Archives Might Be Telling Us," pp. 123-33.
Victoria C. TASHJIAN, "The Diaries of A. C. Duncan-Johnstone: A Preliminary Analysis of British Involvement in the 'Native Courts' of Colonial Asante," pp. 135-50.
Ivor G. WILKS, "'Unity and Progress': Asante Politics Revisited," pp. 151-79.
Larry W. YARAK, "Editor's Introduction," pp. 1-3.
Special Section: Contemporary Ghanaian Migration. Guest Editor Takyiwaa Manuh.
Takyiwaa MANUH, "Introduction: Contemporary Ghanaian Migration," pp. 5-11.
Kwadwo Konadu-Agyemang, "Travel Patterns and Coping Strategies of Ghanaian Migrants in Toronto," pp. 13-34.
Baffour TAKYI, "The African Diaspora: A Socio-Demographic Portrait of the Ghanaian Migrant Community in the United States of America," pp. 35-56.
Stephan F. MIESCHER and Leslie ASHBAUGH, "Been-To Visions: Transnational Linkages Among a Ghanaian Dispersed Community in the Twentieth Century," pp. 57-76.
Takyiwaa MANUH, "'This Place is Not Ghana': Gender and Rights Discourse Among Ghanaian Men and Women in Toronto," pp. 77-95.
Other Articles:
Trevor, GETZ, "A 'Somewhat Firm Policy': The Role of the Gold Coast Judiciary in Implementing Slave Emancipation, 1874-1900," pp. 97-117.
Carola LENTZ, "Colonial Ethnography and Political Reform: The Works of A. C. Duncan-Johnstone, R. S. Rattray, J. Eyre-Smith, and J. Guiness on Northern Ghana," pp. 119-169.
T. C. MCCASKIE, "The Last Will and Testament of Kofi Sraha: A Note on Accumulation and Inheritance in Colonial Asante," pp. 171-181.
Larry W. YARAK, "Editor's Introduction," p. 1.
Emmanuel AKYEAMPONG, "Asante at the Turn of the Twentieth Century," pp. 3-12.
Ivor WILKS, "Asante at the End of the Nineteenth Century: Setting the Record Straight," pp. 13-59.
T. C. MCCASKIE, "The Golden Stool at the End of the Nineteenth Century: Setting the Record Straight," pp. 61-96.
Nana ARHIN BREMPONG, "The Role of Nana Yaa Asantewaa in the 1900 Asante War of Resistance," pp. 97-110.
Adu BOAHEN, "Yaa Asantewaa in the Yaa Asantewaa War of 1900: Military Leader or Symbolic Head?" pp. 111-135.
Pashington OBENG, "Yaa Asantewaa's War of Independence: Honoring and Ratifying an Historic Pledge," pp. 137-152.
Lynda DAY, "Long Live the Queen!: The Yaa Asantewaa Centenary and the Politics of History," pp. 153-166.
Larry W. YARAK, "Editor's Introduction" pp. 1-2.
Special Section: Moral Discourses and Public Spaces in the Fourth Republic. Guest Editors: Birgit Meyer and Paul Nugent.
Birgit MEYER and Paul NUGENT, "Moral Discourses and Public Spaces in the Fourth Republic," pp. 3-5.
Akosua K. DARKWAH, "Aid or Hindrance? Faith Gospel Theology and Ghana’s Incorporation into the Global Economy," pp. 7-29.
Rijk VAN DIJK, "Contesting Silence: The Ban on Drumming and the Musical Politics of Pentecostalism in Ghana," pp. 31-64.
Birgit MEYER, "Money, Power and Morality: Popular Ghanaian Cinema in the Fourth Republic," pp. 65-84.
Paul NUGENT, "The Things That Money Can Buy: Chieftaincy, the Media and the 1996 Elections in Hohoe-North Constituency," pp. 85-106.
Other articles:
Joseph K. Adjaye, "The Performativity of Akan Libations: An Ethnopoetic Construction of Reality," pp. 107-38.
Stefano BONI, "A Precolonial, Political History of the Sefwi Wiawso Oman," pp. 139-68.
Kwamena KWANSAH-AIDOO, "Interpersonal Networks and the Dissemination of the Mass Media's Environmental Agenda in Ghana," pp. 169-97.
Larry W. YARAK, "Editor's Introduction" pp. 1-2.
Special Section: Teaching and Learning in Ghana. Guest Editor: Akosua Adomako Ampofo.
Akosua ADOMAKO AMPOFO, "Introduction: Teaching and Learning in Ghana—Historical and Contemporary Perspectives," pp. 3-20.
Francis AGBODEKA, "Education in Ghana: Yesterday and Today," pp. 21-42.
Kwasi ANSU-KYEREMEH, "Mass Education and Communication in Ghana: A Globalization Perspective," pp. 43-59.
David OWUSU-ANSAH, "History of Islamic Education in Ghana: An Overview," pp. 61-81.
Mansah PRAH, "Gender Issues in Ghanaian Tertiary Institutions: Women Academics and Administrators at Cape Coast University," pp. 83-122.
Akosua ADOMAKO AMPOFO, "Does Women’s Education Matter in Childbearing Decision Making? A Case Study from Urban Ghana," pp. 123-157.
Other Articles:
Arhin BREMPONG and Mariano PAVANELLO, "The Bureaucratization of Traditional Authority under Colonial Rule: The Asante Stool Treasuries, 1927-1944," pp. 159-175.
Gérard CHOUIN, "Sacred Groves as Historical and Archaeological Markers in Southern Ghana," pp. 177-196.
David DORWARD, "'Nigger Driver Brothers': Australian Colonial Racism in the Early Gold Coast Mining Industry," pp. 197-214.
Ivor WILKS, "'Mallams Do Not Fight With the Heathen': A Note on Suwarian Attitudes to Jihad," pp. 215-230.
Sjaak VAN DER GEEST, "The Performativity of Akan Libations: A Comment," pp. 231-232.
Takyiwaa MANUH and Lynne BRYDON, "Editorial," pp. 1-3.
Holger WEISS, "Crop Failures, Food Shortages and Colonial Famine Relief Policies in the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast," pp. 5-58.
Akosua ADOMAKO AMPOFO, "The Sex Trade, Globalization and Issues of Survival in Sub-Saharan Africa," pp. 59-90.
Takyiwaa MANUH, "Ghanaian Migrants in Toronto, Canada: Care of Kin and Gender Relations," pp. 91-107.
Susan BENSON, "Connecting with the Past, Building the Future: African Americans and Chieftaincy in Southern Ghana," pp. 109-133.
Jennifer HASTY, "'Forget the Past or Go Back to the Slave Trade': Trans-Africanism and Popular History in Postcolonial Ghana," pp. 135-161.
Trevor GETZ, "Re-evaluating the 'Colonization' of Akyem Abuakwa: Amoako Atta, the Basel Mission, and the Gold Coast Courts, 1867-1887," pp. 163-180.
Takyiwaa MANUH & Lynne BRYDON, "Editors' Note," p. 1. Ray SILVERMAN, "Guest Editor's Introduction," pp. 2-9. Wyatt MACGAFFEY, "Earth Shrines and the Politics of Memory in Dagbon," pp. 11-24. Emmanuel AKYEAMPONG, "Memories of Place and Belonging: Identity, Citizenship, and the Lebanese in Ghana," pp. 25-42. Anne HUGON, "Korle Bu and the Midwives Hostel as a Site of memory for Ghanaian Pupil Midwives, 1930s-1950s," pp. 43-58. Brempong OSEI-TUTU, "'Slave Castles' and the Transatlantic Slave Trade: Ghanaian and African American Perspectives," pp. 59-78. Christine Mullen KREAMER, "The Politics of Memory: Ghana's Cape Coast Castle Exhibition 'Crossroads of People, Crossroads of Trade'," pp. 79-91. Sue BENSON & T.C. MCCASKIE, "Asen Praso in History and Memory," pp. 93-113. Osei-Mensah ABORAMPAH, "Encyclopedia of the Dead: Transgenerational Memories and Cultural Transmission Among the Akan of Ghana," pp.115-135. Mansah PRAH, "'In Blessed Memory': (Re)presentations of the Lives of the Departed in Ghanaian Funeral Programs," pp. 137-48. Takyiwaa MANUH & Lynne BRYDON, "Editors' Note," p. 1. Leo BARRINGTON, "Education, Literacy, Training, and Propaganda in a Ghanaian Border Town," pp. 3-38. J. BOACHIE-ANSAH, "Excavations at Techiman, Brong-Ahafo," pp. 39-102. Richard GLOTZER and Lila ENGBERG, "Teacher Trainees in Ghana in the early 1960s: Women and the Teaching of Home Science," pp. 103-126. Emmanuel LARYEA and Kwamena KWANSAH-AIDOO, "Going, Going, Gone! Implications of the Repeal of Criminal Libel and Sedition Laws in Ghana," pp. 127-168. Brigid M. SACKEY, "Charismatism, Women, and Testimonies: Religion and Popular Culture in Ghana," pp. 169-196. Lynne BRYDON & Takyiwaa MANUH, "Editors' Note," p. 1-3. Larry W. YARAK, "The Dutch Gold-Mining Effort in Ahanta, 1841-9," pp. 5-23. Sara BERRY, "'Natives' and 'Strangers' on the Outskirts of Kumasi," pp. 25-59. Isidore LOBNIBE, "Legitimating a Contested Boundary: Northern Ghanaian Immigrants and the Historicity of Land Conflict in Ahyiayem, Brong Ahafo," pp. 61-90. Karen LAUTERBACH, "Wealth and Worth: Pastorship and Neo-Pentecostalism in Kumasi," pp. 91-121. Akosua K. DARKWAH & Alexina ARTHUR, "(A)sexualizing Ghanaian Youth?: A Case Study of Virgin Clubs in Accra and Kumasi," pp. 123-49. Agnes Atia APUSIGAH, "Transcending Gendered Economics: Grassroots Women's Agency in the Informal Sector of the Ghanaian Economy," pp. 151-76. Holger WEISS, "The Making of an African Bolshevik: Bankole Awooner Renner in Moscow, 1925-1928," pp. 177-220. Notes on Contributors, p. 221. Lynne BRYDON & Takyiwaa MANUH, "Editors' Note," p. 1-8. John COLLINS, "Popular Performance and Culture in Ghana: The Past 50 Years," 9-64. Sjaak VAN DER GEEST, "Fifty Years in Kwahu-Tafo: Memories and Reflections of an Anthropologist," 65-88. Audrey GADZEKPO, "Fifty Years of the Media's Struggle for Democracy in Ghana: Legacies and Encumbrances," 89-106. Emmanuel GYIMAH-BOADI, "Politics in Ghana Since 1957: The Quest for Freedom, National Unity, and Prosperity," 107-144. T. C. MCCASKIE, "Asante History: A Personal History of Forty Years," 145-162. Dzodzi TSIKATA, "Women in Ghana at 50: Still Struggling to Achieve Full Citizenship?" 163-206. Notes on Contributors, p. 207. Akosua ADOMAKO AMPOFO and Stephan F. MIESCHER, “Editors’ Note,” pp. 1-5. Giancarlo PICHILLO, “The Historical and Political Legacies of the Transformations of the (Dutch) Sekondi Socio-Economic Landscape during the Early Twentieth Century,” pp. 7-45. Carola LENTZ, “Hard Work, Determination, and Luck: Biographical Narratives of a Northern Ghanaian Elite,” pp. 47-76.
Michael Perry Kweku OKYEREFO, “Ausländer!: Pentecostalism as Social Capital Network for Ghanaians in Vienna,” pp. 77-103.
Alexander K. D. FREMPONG, “Reflections on By-Elections in the Fourth Republic of Ghana,” pp. 105-137.
Nana Akua ANYIDOHO and Kofi Takyi ASANTE, “Truly National? Social Exclusion and the Ghana@50 Celebrations,” pp. 139-173.
Kwame Amoah LABI, “The “Commercial” and “Museum” Life of Some Akan Brass Works,” pp. 175-216.
Bianca MURILLO, “Review Essay: Situating Histories of Consumption and Consumers in Ghana,” pp. 217-230.
Notes on Contributors, p. 231.
Special Issue: Revisiting Modernization. Guest Editors: Peter J. Bloom, Takyiwaa Manuh, and Stephan F. Miescher Akosua ADOMAKO AMPOFO and Stephan F. MIESCHER, “Editors’ Note,” p. 1. Peter J. BLOOM, Takyiwaa MANUH, and Stephan F. MIESCHER, “Introduction: Revisiting Modernization in Ghana,” pp. 3-14. Articles Stephan F. MIESCHER and Dzodzi TSIKATA, “Hydro-Power and the Promise of Modernity and Development in Ghana: Comparing the Akosombo and Bui Dam Projects,” pp. 15-53. John H. HANSON, “Modernity, Religion and Development in Ghana: The Example of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community,” pp. 55-75. Anne HUGON, “Maternity and Modernity in the Gold Coast, 1920s-1950s,” pp. 77-95. Gracia CLARK, “Consulting Elderly Kumasi Market Women about Modernization,” pp. 97-119. Peter J. BLOOM and Kate SKINNER, “Modernity and Danger: The Boy Kumasenu and the Work of the Gold Coast Film Unit,” pp. 121-153. Kevin D. DUMOUCHELLE, “Traditions of Modernity: Currents in Architectural Expression in Kumasi,” pp. 155-188. David Afriyie DONKOR, “Gyamfi’s Golden Soap: Commodity Marketing, Reform Legitimation, and the Performance of Cultural Authenticity in Ghana’s Popular Theatre,” pp. 189-216. Esi SUTHERLAND-ADDY, “The Funeral as a Site for Choreographing Modern Identities in Contemporary Ghana,” pp. 217-248.
Creative Works and Conference Activities Sheron WRAY, “Misnomer: Reflections on a Dance Performance,” pp. 249-262. Bernard AKOI-JACKSON and R. Lane CLARK, ““Still 2 Trouble(s) One God”: Art Exhibition at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon,” pp. 263-271. Yaba BADOE, “The Revisiting Modernization Short Story Competition,” pp. 273-275. Tsiate TOTIMEH, “Time Bomb,” pp. 277-283. Victoria Amma Agyeiwaah MOFFATT, “There are Always Two Sides to Every Story,” pp. 285-292. Benjamin KENT, “Dim Dim, Tim Tim,” pp. 293-298. Participants in the Revisiting Modernization Conference, University of Ghana, July 2009, pp. 299-301. Notes on Contributors, pp. 303-304. Akosua ADOMAKO AMPOFO and Stephan F. MIESCHER, “Editors’ Note,” pp. 1-9. History Mariano PAVANELLO, “Reconsidering Ivor Wilks’s ‘Big Bang’ Theory of Akan History,” pp. 11-52. Politics and Nationahood Wyatt MACGAFFEY, “Tamale: Election 2008, Violence, and “Unemployment,” pp. 53-80. Children, Women, and Work Ernestina Korleki DANKYI, “Growing Up in a Transnational Household: A Study of Children of International Migrants in Accra, Ghana,” pp. 133-161. Peace Mamle TETTEH, “Child Domestic Labor in Accra: Opportunity and Empowerment or Perpetuation of Gender Inequality?” pp. 163-189. Josephine BEOKU-BETTS, “Neo-Liberal Economic Restructuring of Public Universities in Ghana: Effects and Challenges for Academic Women Scientists,” pp. 191-221
Same-Sex Intimacies Serena Owusua DANKWA, “‘The One Who First Says I Love You’: Same-Sex Love and Female Masculinity in Postcolonial Ghana,” pp. 223-264. William BANKS, “‘This Thing is Sweet’: Nteteε and the Reconfiguration of Sexual Subjectivity in Post-Colonial Ghana,” pp. 265-290. Notes on Contributors, p. 291. Submissions to Ghana Studies are especially welcome. Manuscripts should not exceed about 12,000 words in length, including all footnotes/endnotes and references. Citation style should preferably follow the guidelines in the Journal of African History. Other style formats are also acceptable so long as they are consistently applied. Please send THREE copies of your manuscript, DOUBLE-SPACED throughout (including all reference matter), and an electronic copy as an uncompressed email attachment (preferably in MS Word format) to: Or: Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9410 Eectronic file versions should have the footnotes/endnotes and any list of references embedded in the manuscript text so that the work comprises a single file. Any questions about these procedures may be directed to the editor.
Table of Contents, Volume 7 (2004):
Table of Contents, Volume 8 (2005):
Table of Contents, Volume 9 (2006):
Table of Contents, Volume 10 (2007):
Table of Contents, Volume 11 (2008):
Table of Contents, Volume 12-13 (2009-2010):
Table of Contents, Volume 14 (2011):
Guidelines for Manuscript Submissions
Akosua Adomako Ampofo
Editor, Ghana Studies
Institute of African Studies
P.O. Box LG 73
University of Ghana
Legon, Ghana
Email: adomako@ug.edu.gh; adomako@gmail.com
Stephan Miescher
Editor, Ghana Studies
Department of History
University of California
TOP OF PAGE