African Market Women

by Clark, Gracia

• ISBN13: 9780253221544
• ISBN10: 0253221544
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-15
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

In these lively life stories, women market traders from Ghana comment on changing social and economic times and on reasons for their prosperity or decline in fortunes. Gracia Clark shows that market women are intimately connected with economic policy on a global scale. Many work at the intersection of sophisticated networks of transnational commerce and migration. They have dramatic memories of independence and the growth of their new nation, including political rivalries, price controls, and violent raids on the market. The experiences of these women give substance to their reflections on globalization, capital accumulation, colonialism, technological change, environmental degradation, teenage pregnancy, marriage, children, changing gender roles, and spirituality. Clark's commentary illuminates the complex historical and cultural setting of these deeply revealing lives.

Author Biography

Gracia Clark is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University Bloomington. She is author of Onions Are My Husband: Survival and Accumulation by West African Market Women and has edited several volumes dealing with gender and economic life in West Africa.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction: Trading Lives	p. 1
Abenaa Adiiya
Portrait: An Adventurer on the Road	p. 30
Story: Patience and Pleading	p. 32
Maame Kesewaa
Portrait: A Quiet Saver	p. 63
Story: Someone Has Set Herself a Goal	p. 65
Madame Ataa
Portrait: A Good Citizen	p. 83
Story: A Man Would Marry You Properly	p. 84
Amma Pokuaa
Portrait: A Market Daughter	p. 113
Story: All of Them Depend upon Me	p. 115
Auntie Afriyie
Portrait: A Shrewd Dealer	p. 129
Story: If You Have Wisdom, You Can Do Many Jobs	p. 131
Sister Buronya
Portrait: An International Observer	p. 164
Story: If I Had Money, I Would Go	p. 165
Maame Nkrumah
Portrait: A Grateful Sister	p. 187
Story: She Has Cared for Me and My Children	p. 189
Conclusion: Little by Little	p. 218
Appendix	p. 247
Glossary	p. 251
Notes	p. 255
References	p. 259
Index	p. 263
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