Abstract
Autore:
Casentini Giulia
Titolo:
"Il confine come agente di costruzione della rappresentanza politica: il caso di Ghana e Togo settentrionali"
I propose a reflection on the construction of the Ghana-Togo border during colonial time, and its effects on the contemporary political landscape. The border has been used as a system of control and administration of the local people, producing a dramatic change in the power relationships between different polities. The case study is provided by the political changes experienced by a transborder community, the so called stateless Konkombas, located at the periphery of groups which are more centralized politically. Historically under political and economic control of these groups, the Konkombas are still experiencing a condition of subordination with regard to access to land and political representation. Today Ghanaian Konkombas are struggling to gain direct control over land through the acquisition of “traditional” chieftaincy institutions. Indeed these are perceived as a fundamental tool for operating in the present national political arena. The situation in Togo provides a different perspective, due to the fact that Togolese Konkombas have attained since colonial times the recognition as a “traditional” chefferie. Through the comparison between the political situation of Konkomba people living in Ghana and in Togo, my paper will discuss the role of the border in connection with this “chieftaincy-building” process, considering the Ghana-Togo border as a possible “Internal African Frontier” (Kopytoff) where the regions are in constant change and thus their historical subjectivities are fluid.
