SUCCESSION AND DEMOCRACY IN NANUŊ, NORTHERN GHANA (DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ELENA BERTONCINI, NÉE ZÚBKOVÁ)

• Authors: Skalník Peter
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The chiefdom of Nanuŋ situated in northern Ghana has existed for centuries up to our time. Although it has been subject to the transformations common to colonial and postcolonial states the mechanisms of succession and ritual have survived and can be studied in the field. My research, which began in 1978, has included two successions, a number of installations of new chiefs and the observation of ritual activities of specialists during successions. It appears that two chiefly houses alternate but no chief becomes such without competition. The paper will discuss in detail the political culture of Nanuŋ resulting from the complex articulation of factors which combine succession rules, ritual conditioning and the quest for power. The Nanuŋ case can be understood as an example of neotraditional democracy coexisting with the modern state but following its own trajectory.

Keywords

EN

CHIEFDOM; DEMOCRACY; GHANA

• Publisher: Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Asian and African Studies
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 205 – 222

Contributors

author

Skalník Peter

• University of Hradec Králové, Rokitanského 62, 500 03 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic