Suchergebnisse

AbstractAusgelöst durch Energieengpässe bildeten sich in Ghana 2014 mehrere neue Protestgruppen heraus, unter ihnen Occupy Ghana und das Citizen Ghana Movement. Dasleadershipbeider Bewegungen ist mit jeweils einem Dutzend Personen relativ klein. Zur Erforschung desleadershipvon sozialen Bewegungen bieten sich insbesondere Methoden der Biographieforschung an. In ethnologischen Forschungsarbeiten wird die Biographieforschung meist mit weiteren ethnographischen Methoden wie der Teilnehmenden Beobachtung kombiniert. Zentral für die Ethnologie sind weiterhin ein Perspektivwechsel und die lange Feldforschung. Dabei erheben Ethnolog*innen sehr unterschiedliche biographische Daten und verknüpfen diese miteinander. Für den vorliegenden Artikel erhoben Jan Budniok und Andrea mit den Biographien der Mitglieder desleadershipauch ihre Familiengeschichten, um mehr über Darstellung historisch gewachsener Netzwerke zu erfahren. Zudem hängen die individuellen Beweggründe aktiv zu werden in den hier untersuchten Fällen oft mit der eigenen Familiengeschichte zusammen oder werden in einem solchen Zusammenhang dargestellt, um das eigene Handeln zu legitimieren. Diese Kombination von Biographieforschung mit weiteren ethnographischen Methoden ist eine Stärke des ethnographischen Ansatzes und kann auch von anderen Disziplinen in der Erforschung sozialer Bewegungen fruchtbar gemacht werden.

This article offers an account of the 50th Ghanaian independence-day celebrations during March 2007. The multi-perspective approach examines how celebrations were experienced in the Ghanaian capital Accra by the political elite and the grass roots at a variety of official and unofficial events that took place on 5 and 6 March 2007. During the festivities the authors accompanied Ghanaian friends from different political factions and thus provide close-hand accounts of political controversies over issues regarding how the nation ought to organise and celebrate its Independence Day, controversies which provide important insights into Ghanaian political culture. From this it is clear that the celebrations not only serve as expressions of national pride but also moments of critical reflection on the nation, national values and socio-political unity. These reflections, manifest as disputes about national and ethnic symbols, centre on the conditions and limits of political, social, ethnic and regional inclusiveness. At the same time, underlying such disputes are commonalities resting not on substantive symbols, cultural traits or other objectifiable characteristics, but on a Ghanaian consensus to agree on the issues at stake and on the rules of debate. Controversy thus functions not to divide but rather to strengthen national consciousness and deepen a sense of commonality that Ghanaians generally express as their commitment to 'unity in diversity'. ; 29 S.

1. Introduction: Africa's Middle Classes in Critical Perspective; Tabea Scharrer, David O'Kane and Lena Kroeker -- Section 1: Rethinking Concepts of Middle Classes in Africa -- 2. Turning the Poor into Something More Inspiring: The Creation of the African Middle Class Controversy; Dominique Darbon -- 3. The Narrative of 'the African Middle Class' and its Conceptual Limitations; Dieter Neubert and Florian Stoll -- 4. Anthropology and Class in Africa: Challenges of the Past and Present -- Section 2: The Recurring Rise and Return of Middle Classes in Africa; David O'Kane and Tabea Scharrer -- 5. The Ghanaian Middle Class, Social Stratification, and Long-Term Dynamics of Upward and Downward Mobility of Lawyers and Teachers; Jan Budniok and Andrea Noll -- 6. The Nubians of Kibera 'Revisited': Detribalized Natives, Slum Dwellers, Middle class?; Johanna Sarre -- 7. Saving and Serving the Nation: HIV Politics and the Emergence of New Professional Classes in Botswana; Astrid Bochow -- Section 3: The Political Consequences of the Middle Classes.-8. Propertied Citizenship in a Township and Suburb in Johannesburg; Barbara Heer -- 9. Thinking Sierra Leone and Building a New Middle Class: Political Expression and Political Values at the University of Makeni; David O'Kane -- 10. African Middle Classes: Formation and Destabilizing Effects -- Section 4: Formation of Social Interconnections and Interdependencies; Jason Musyoka -- 11. Pathways into the Middle: Rites of Passage and Emerging Middle Classes in Namibia; Julia Pauli -- 12. Middle Class Approaches to Social Security in Kenya; Lena Kroeker -- 13. Middle Classes and 'Moderate Prosperity' in Rural Madagascar; Tsiry Andrianampiarivo -- 14. Afterword. The (Idea of) African Middle Classes: Theorizing from Africa; Rachel Spronk