Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa

Description

Rapid urbanization and political liberalization is changing the nature of African politics and societies. This book develops a framework for the study of democracy and development that emphasizes informal institutions and the politics of belonging in the context of daily life, in contrast to the formal and electoral paradigms that dominate the social sciences. Based on fifteen months of field research including ethnographic observation, focus group interviews, and original quantitative survey analysis in Ghana, this book intervenes in major debates about public goods provision, civic participation, ethnic politics and democratization, and the future of urban sustainability in a rapidly changing world. By developing new understandings of democracy, as well as providing novel explanations for good governance and development in poor urban neighborhoods, the book transcends the narrative of a failing and corrupt Africa and charts a new way forward for the study of democracy and development. Cover Half-title Title page Copyright information Dedication Contents Figures Tables Preface Acknowledgments 1 Democracy, Development, and Daily Life An Urban Future Democracy in Ghana Leadership and Civic Life in Africa Everyday Urban Politics Informal Norms of Settlement and Belonging The Role of Urban Space Research Design and Methods Ghana's Urban Poor Outline of the Book Part I The Roots of Urban Politics in Africa 2 Leadership and Civic Life in Urban Africa Accounts of African Urbanization Settlement and Belonging in African Urbanization Original Claimants of the City A Long History of Migration The Proliferation of Squatter Settlements Typology of Urban Neighborhoods The Construction of Legitimate Authority Rethinking Clientelism in Urban Africa The Limits of Neopatrimonialism Toward a Theory of Legitimate Authority The Type of Distributive Politics Rethinking Distributive Politics for an Urbanizing Africa The Politicization of the Commons Toward a Theory of Distributive Politics The Organization of Civic Life Ethnic Politics and Elections Ethnicity and Civic Life Toward a Theory of Multiethnic Governance Conclusion 3 The Political History of Urbanization in Ghana The Birth of Accra The Impact of Colonialism Chieftaincy Disputes and Everyday Politics Incorporating Migrants into a Growing City The Challenge of Governing Poor Neighborhoods Slum Clearance in Sekondi-Takoradi The Construction of Legitimate Authority Settling in Kumasi Urbanization after Independence The Search for Greener Pastures Failed Government Housing Policies The Growth of Squatter Settlements in the Era of Democracy Conclusion Part II Everyday Politics in Urban Ghana 4 The Construction of Legitimate Authority History and the Control of Space in the Indigenous Core of a City Everyday Politics of Chieftaincy Disputes How Indigenous Norms Structure Leadership Selection Legitimate Authorities, Shameless Opinion Leaders Expansion and the Struggle for Space in a Growing City The ''Old Pioneers'' Making Politicians from Opinion Leaders How Opinion Leaders Become Politicians Shame and Honor The Accessibility of Leaders Brokers and Opinion Leaders in a Sprawling Metropolis How Opinion Leaders Become Political Brokers Building the Political Machine Conclusion 5 Distributive Politics for an Urbanizing Continent Customary Entitlement in the Indigenous Core of a City Building a Political Family Indigeneity and the Politics of Resentment Serving the Public Interest in a Diversifying City The Construction of a Public Sphere Beyond Elite Capture The Production of Democracy Privatizing the Commons in Rapidly Growing Cities Private Services, Public Power Beyond Vote Buying Politicization of Evictions A Quantitative Illustration: State Services and Public Spheres Operationalizing Public Spheres Conclusion 6 The Organization of Civic Life An Ethnic Civic Life in the Indigenous Core of the City Ga Nationalists as Foot Soldiers The Emergence of Cross-Ethnic Social Engagement Tocqueville's Ideal Blurring Boundaries between NGOs and the State Complementary Institutions and Hybrid Governance Everyday State Building Developing Trust and Networks of Social Engagement The Endurance of Ethnicity in Squatter Settlements Eviction as Opportunity A Battle for a Voice Tyranny of the Majority NGOs and the Organization of Civic Life A Quantitative Illustration: Associational Life and Quotidian Interactions Conclusion 7 Everyday Politics in Urban Africa Informal Institutions and Everyday Politics Implications for the Study of Democracy The Study of Urban Africa Overcoming Urban Poverty Toward a Sustainable Urban Future Methodological Appendix Focus Group Information Household Survey References Index