'They must be Dagaba first and any other thing second...': the colonial and post-colonial creation of ethnic identities in north-western Ghana

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	'They must be Dagaba first and any other thing second...': the colonial and post-colonial creation of ethnic identities in north-western Ghana
Author:	Lentz, Carola
Year:	1994
Periodical:	African Studies
Volume:	53
Issue:	2
Pages:	57-91
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	Dagari ethnicity Ethnic and Race Relations Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) colonialism History and Exploration
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1080/00020189408707802
Abstract:	The article analyses the creation of new ethnic identities in a precolonial acephalous, 'non-tribal' setting. Presenting the case of the Dagara (or Dagaba) of northwestern Ghana, the author discusses how ethnic categories and institutions are constructed in a complex interplay by multiple actors with different interests, namely colonial administrators, newly appointed chiefs, labour migrants and the emergent educated elite. The central argument is that ethnic ideologies construe images of a natural, immutable, primordial identity, thus conveying a sense of stability, security and self-esteem, but behind this essentialist 'facade' there is always room for multiple meanings and negotiation. The author shows that the attributes of a Dagara identity are continuously reinterpreted and constitute a battleground for many issues, for instance the political competition among different subgroups or the relations between educated elite and their rural kin. Notes, ref., sum.