Re-thinking Development in Africa

An Oral History Approach from Botoku, Rural Ghana

Komla Tsey

• Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9789956726509
• eBook ISBN: 9789956726523
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Global Development Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

In this thought provoking book, Komla Tsey argues that if governments, NGOs, development donor agencies and researchers are serious about development in Africa, they need to get down to ground level, both metaphorically and literally. They must search deep into Africas own rich oral traditions by creating space and opportunity for ordinary Africans, whose voices have so far been conspicuously absent in the development discourse, to tell and share their own stories of development. Story-sharing as research methodology acts as a mirror, reflecting the participants self-evaluation of where they have come from, where they are now, and how to proceed into the future. They are strategies that can empower and enable individuals and communities of people to be agents of their own change which, in Tsey's view, is what development is all about.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• About the Author
• Intended Audience
• Dedication
• Contents
• Chapter 1. Introduction
• Chapter 2. Better Understanding Botoku and My Connection to It
• Chapter 3. My Approach to the Research
• Chapter 4. From Migration to Settlement
• Chapter 5. From Road Building in the 1930s to Middle School in the 50’s
• Chapter 6. Water Hand Pumps, Health Clinic, Electrification and Fiasa (chief’s ‘palace’) from 1970s to 2000s
• Chapter 7. Culture as a Two-Edged Sword
• Chapter 8. Making a Living through Economic Participation
• Chapter 9. An Ancestral Home or Place to Connect
• Chapter 10. An Integrated Model of Development
• Chapter 11. Conclusion
• Chapter References
• Bibliography
• Back cover