The State of the Akan and the Akan States: A Discussion

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Periodical article

Title:	The State of the Akan and the Akan States: A Discussion
Author:	Wilks, Ivor
Year:	1982
Periodical:	Cahiers d'études africaines
Volume:	22
Issue:	87-88
Pages:	231-249
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	modes of production history Akan polities Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration colonialism
External link:	https://doi.org/10.3406/cea.1982.3377
Abstract:	The author outlines what may be called the big bang theory of the origins of Akan society. Be suggests that Akan society, as it is known from the historic period, came into existence as a result of a change in the mode of production which involved a transformation in the economic base, a reorganization of the social relations of production, and the appearance of new political structures. He also suggests that necessary though not sufficient conditions of the change in the mode of production are to be found in a set of historical determinants which acted relatively uniformly throughout the regions of the Of fin, Pra and Birrim basins, the description of which can only be undertaken with reference to movements in the world economy and particularly in the demand for bullion. Bibliogr., notes.