The African e-journals Project has digitized full text of articles of eleven social science and humanities journals. This item is from the digital archive maintained by Michigan State University Library. Find more at: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/ Available through a partnership with Scroll down to read the article.
AS v / CrHl INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES RESEARCH REVIEW New Series Vol. 1 No. i l 1985 UNIVERSITY OF GHANA LEGON
R E S E A R C H R E V I E W New Series Vol* 1 No- 1 1985 Published by Institute of African Studies University of Ghana Legon
RESEARCH REVIEW (lew Series) INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES - LEGON PUBLICATIONS BOARD: Kwame Arhin M.E. Dakubu Irene Odotei Afari Gyan S.D. Asiama G.P. Hagan E. Sutherland-Addy R.J. Mettle-Nunoo Editor - Kwame A Assistant Editor - Esi Sutherland-Addy Prices Subscriptions to be addressed to; Publications, Institute of African Studied, University of Ghana, P.O. Box 73, Legon, Ghana,
- 1 - PREFACE The Institute of African Studies is happy to present the first volume of the new series of its Research Reviexf. Much attention has been focused over the past decade on the role of women in sooicties the world over, not only in academic circles but also among policy making bodies at national and international levels. '2his issue addresses itself to the problems of economic and social development in emergent African nations. This volume brings together a number of research findings of women researchers working on Ghanaian women. The publication of the papers presented in the late seventies has unfortunately been delayed due to insurmountable technical problems, We believe however that they still have points of interest to our' readers, Christine 6kali,using the results of research carried out on a cocoa farm camp in the Brong Ahafo region, discusses the issue of division of labour'between various members of the labour force. She concentrates on comparing and contrasting in detail, work done by men and women especially wives of male cocoa farmers. Some of her conclusions confirm previous findings carried out in Ghana and Nigeria while others relate to findings in the Third World in general. In her article on women in the history and culture of Ghana Agnes Aidoo gives an animated account of the role of women in both traditional and transitional Akan society. She assesses the role and impact of women on the social structure and the economic and political life of their people. ' Aidoo proceeds not only by describing cultural norms but also by using a large number of detailed illustrations
-11- from the beginning of the 19th century onwards showing historical moments at which women made a significant nark. She finally concludes that the colonial era had a negative effect on the substantive position and impact of women in society. Eugenia Date-Bah tackles the relatively new phenomenon of the Ghanaian woman in industrial employment. Basing her discussion on a case study of a group of factory workers in the early seventies, Date-Bah looks at their characteristics especially in comparison with their male counterparts. Among other things, she is able to conclude that the relatively erratic xirork behaviour of women workers can be blanbd on their domestic obligations. She also shows the problems posed to female employees both by the nature of factory work and the attitude of employers, iis many Ghanaian women are self employed, she contrasts women in the factory and in self-employment.., Prudence Berger contributes a note on her research in progress on the role of women in social and economic change. In pursuance of the aim of contributing to a wider comparative project whose ultimate goal is to generate hypotheses on the nature and basis of women's participation in social and economic life in various parts of the works, Berger has conducted field research in a rural town in the Dormaa area of the Western Brong-Ahafo region. Her progress report shows an accumulation of relevant data on the changing roles of rural Ghanaian women in the economic and social life of their society. The issue of migrancy and rural change is taken up from several different angles by Patricia Leyland Kaufert, basing her discussion on data collected from one town (Tsito in the Volta Hegion). The effect of
-iuexploring a wide variety of variables in such a compact context is to focus attention in an intense manner on the many implications of out migrancy on a small coimrunity. Among many others, she emphasises the broad question of the migrant as communicator and in this context makes several inferences about the woman as an agent of change in the community. SSI SUTHERLAKD-/J2)Y
Cont entg Page Family Labour On Cocoa Fauns - Christine Okali 1 Women in the History and Culture of Ghana - Agnes Akosua Aidoo -]4 Ghanaian Women in Factory Bnployment: A Case Study - Eugenia Date-Bah 52 A Note on Research in Progress; "Women in Social And Economic Change" - Prudence A. Berger 68 Women, Migrancy and Rural Change - Patricia Leyland Kaufert 85