Death of a King, Death of a Kingdom? Social Pluralism and Succession in High Office in Dagbon, Northern Ghana

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Periodical article

Title:	Death of a King, Death of a Kingdom? Social Pluralism and Succession in High Office in Dagbon, Northern Ghana
Author:	MacGaffey, Wyatt
Year:	2006
Periodical:	Journal of Modern African Studies
Volume:	44
Issue:	1
Period:	March
Pages:	79-99
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	Dagomba polity succession plural society Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration Politics and Government Ethnic and Race Relations
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/3876102
Abstract:	The ongoing dynastic dispute in the kingdom of Dagbon in northern Ghana, which led to the killing of the king in 2002, remains unresolved and perhaps unresolvable. The history of the dispute, and the problems now impeding its resolution, exemplify the inherent political and cultural tensions characteristic of plural societies, that is, those in which two or more social systems, or institutional sets, are incorporated in a political framework dominated by one of them. This paper updates M. Staniland's 1975 account of Dagomba politics from 1880 to 1974, and elaborates on the contradictions inherent in the social pluralism of a postcolonial State. It shows that some elements of tradition are radically incompatible with the modern State; unless tradition evolves, it will destroy itself. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract, edited]