On March 31st 2010 I was fortunate enough to attend a discussion held on Marriage in 1930s Ghana that was sponsored by the Committee on Global Thought and the Institute of African Studies. While the paper that the discussion was based upon is still awaiting publication, it will be a very fascinating read for its use of rare newspaper archives of women's pages from the Gold Coast Independent as the core of the work's historical base. The final paper will instrumental for anyone interested Britain's use of the marriage ordinance as a means to establish indirect rule in the Gold Coast.
The paper is also intriguing for its documentation of the controversies surrounding the sex of the main columnist advocating ordinal marriage in the Gold Coast, the coverage of the tension between the traditional elite and the educated elite, the alienation of the elite from the common people, the power struggle between colonial and customary courts for legal supremacy in the Gold Coast, and the reorganization of the domestic and social life of Ghanaians as a result of this legislation.
The paper also makes a strong argument that the marriage ordinance was an important part of the construction of the citizenship for Ghanaians during the initial phases of indirect colonial rule where the negotiation of British versus Gold Coast identity was still taking place. Most importantly, after reading this paper one will have a firm understanding of the powerful, yet often overlooked perspective on how the British were able to consolidate power over their colonies.
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