This volume provides a comprehensive and integrated analysis of contemporary Ghanaian politics and economy and their relationship to culture. It combines rich, recent, empirical material with sophisticated theoretical analyses, bringing fresh and unique interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on the issues examined.
This title was first published in 2001. When Ghana became independent in 1957, becoming the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to banish colonialism, there was a general optimism that irreversible socio-economic development was about to unfold. But by the end of the 1970s Ghana paradoxically became the first country in Twentieth Century Africa to have experienced socio-economic decline. What failed Ghana? This book seeks to answer this question. By combining sociological, economic, political and institutional perspectives, this book focuses on the interplay between state politics and socio-economic development. It provides a model, which suggests that Ghana’s postcolonial development has suffered mainly as a result of the failure or inability of governing elites to develop consensual politics and a clearly specified long-term development objective that could be widely understood, accepted and have relevance for policy making. This book presents a much-needed self-assessment of the post-colonial development experience which contends that governance, economic management and institution building are basic challenges without which the search for development is likely to falter.
Strong states and strong civil societies are now increasingly hailed as the twin drivers of a ‘rising Africa’. Current attempts to support growth and democracy are part of a longer history of promoting projects of disciplinary, regulatory and liberal rule and values beyond ‘the West’. Yet this is not simply Western domination of a passive continent. Such an interpretation misses out on the complexities and nuances of the politics of state-building and civil society promotion, and the central role of African agency. Drawing upon critical theory, including postcolonial and governmentality approaches, this book interrogates international practices of state-building and civil society support in Africa. It seeks to develop a theoretically informed critical approach to discourses and interventions such as those associated with broadly ‘Western’ initiatives in Africa. In doing so, the book highlights the power relations, inequalities, coercion and violence that are deeply implicated within contemporary international interventions on the African continent. Providing a range of empirical cases and theoretical approaches, the chapters are united by their critical treatment of political dynamics in Africa. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of African politics, development studies, postcolonial theory, International Relations, international political economy and peacekeeping/making.
"This title was first published in 2001. When Ghana became independent in 1957, becoming the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to banish colonialism, there was a general optimism that irreversible socio-economic development was about to unfold. But by the end of the 1970s Ghana paradoxically became the first country in Twentieth Century Africa to have experienced socio-economic decline. What failed Ghana? This book seeks to answer this question. By combining sociological, economic, political and institutional perspectives, this book focuses on the interplay between state politics and socio-economic development. It provides a model, which suggests that Ghana's postcolonial development has suffered mainly as a result of the failure or inability of governing elites to develop consensual politics and a clearly specified long-term development objective that could be widely understood, accepted and have relevance for policy making. This book presents a much-needed self-assessment of the post-colonial development experience which contends that governance, economic management and institution building are basic challenges without which the search for development is likely to falter."--Provided by publisher.
This book explores the significant economic transformation of Ghana over the three decades since the end of the Cold War, focusing on the role of political-economic change and reform. The Politics of Economic Reform in Ghana presents a range of perspectives from scholars drawn from both academia and policy-making on the way Ghanaian economic reforms have been shaped by various political and economic actors. First, it establishes and debates the uniqueness of Ghana as a case study in Africa, and the developing world. Second, the book offers a broad account of how global and domestic political or institutional actors have contributed to shaping economic development in Ghana. Drawing on theoretical perspectives, the volume assesses how major political-economic changes have affected Ghana’s economic development. This book will be of interest to students, scholars, policymakers, and organizations interested in the economic and political advancement of Africa, as well as African Politics and Economics.
This collection of ten essays focuses and analyses Ghana's political, economic, agrarian and social development. The authors are all Ghanaian scholars, and they reflect on their country's experience from different perspectives, providing an indigenous voice to the debate about the country's development. The subjects covered are the state, capital and labour relations 1961-1987; from GTP to Assene: aspects of industrial working class struggles 1982-1986; women's political organizations 1951-1987; changing relations between the IMF and the Government of Ghana 1960-1987; financial intermediation and economic development; trends in foreign policy after Nkrumah; the land question since the 1950s; the state and food agriculture; policies and politics of export agriculture; and the problems of the health care delivery system.
The literary pieces in this book have been carefully and thoughtfully written over a period of twelve years. The writtings represent a critically candid and objective appraisal and evaluation of a myriad of critical issues which affect Ghana's political development and socio-economic prospects. The political, economic, sociological and philosophical reflections has been instrumental and largely contributed in helping the formation of Changing Minds, an organization which is envisioned to enable Ghanaians to hold hands together in national unity to build solid foundations for the total development of our beloved motherland.
African states are often called corrupt, indicating that the political system in Africa differs from the one prevalent in economically advanced democracies. This, however, does not give us any insight into what makes corruption the dominant norm of African statehood. Thus we must turn to the overly neglected theoretical work on the political economy of Africa in order to determine how the poverty of governance in Africa is firmly anchored both in Africa’s domestic socioeconomic reality, as well as in the region’s role in the international economic order. Instead of focusing on increased monitoring, enforcement and formal democratic procedures, this book combines economic analysis with political theory in order to arrive at a better understanding of the political-economic roots of corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa.
