4. “Shop Window on the World” Ghana’s First International Trade Fair and the Politics of Wealth and Accumulation
Chapter 5. “Power to the People” Militarization of the Market and the War against Profiteers
Afterword. From Structural Adjustment to Shopping Malls
Illustrations
FIGURES
1.1. Exterior of provision store, Sekondi, ca. 1910
1.2. Interior of provision store, Accra, May 1907
1.3. Interior of provision store, Sekondi, ca. 1912
2.1. Isaac Ogoe celebrates his eightieth birthday, Sekondi, ca. 1970
2.2. UAC passbook belonging to Madam Amba Otwiwa, ca. 1950–60
2.3. UAC passbook belonging to Mrs. Annah Manful, ca. 1950–60
2.4. Esther Mensah at UAC Swanmill, Accra, August 3, 1950
3.1. Exterior of Kingsway Department Store, Accra, ca. 1957
3.2. Post office counter, Kingsway Department Store, Accra, ca. 1960
3.3. Hat sale, February features, Kingsway Department Store, Accra, February 1960
3.4. Cosmetics counter, Kingsway Department Store, Accra, ca. 1960
3.5. Salesmen preparing a display, Kingsway Department Store, Accra, ca. 1960
3.6. “Your Way,” advertisement, ca. 1955
3.7. “What We Like about Kingsway,” advertisement, ca. 1957
3.8. Lovely Babies competition, Kingsway Department Store, Accra, May 29–June 10, 1960
4.1. Ghana’s first International Trade Fair, original brochure cover, February 1965
5.1. Ghana National Trading Corporation staff, Nsawam, March 28, 1968
TABLE
5.1. Controlled prices versus market prices in 1976, as reported by the Wenchi district office
Acknowledgments
I AM FOREVER INDEBTED to the mentors, colleagues, students, friends, and family who have supported me in the process of writing this book. At the University of California–Santa Barbara I had the honor of working with an inspiring group of mentors. I am deeply indebted to Stephan Miescher, who initially sparked my interest in Ghana’s history as a young undergraduate and has continued to offer endless support, deep insight, and intellectual guidance through the years. His passion and commitment to teaching, writing, and researching in the field of African history has served as a model and constant source of motivation. Erika Rappaport advocated for the importance of my research from its earliest stages. Her inventions have been deeply formative, as have the rigor and creativity she brings to historical writing. Eileen Boris pushed me to look beyond the obvious in studying race and gender and helped sharpen my feminist approach; her scholarship and political commitments to mentoring students are a model for me. I have also benefited from the scholarship and teaching of Catherine Cole and Sylvester Ogbechie. UCSB graduate courses with Adrienne Edgar, Sharon Farmer, Lisa Jacobson, Joan Judge, Cecilia Méndez, Leila Rupp, and at University of California–Los Angeles with Andrew Apter further influenced this work.
In Ghana my research would not have been possible without the support and generosity of many people. I am grateful to Emily Asiedu, “Auntie,” for opening her home to me year after year and for introducing me to the family of a legendary United Africa Company credit customer. At the University of Ghana, professors Takyiwaa Manuh and Dzodzi Tsikata offered research advice and arranged venues where I could present my work. I owe an enormous thanks to the interviewees who generously shared their time and knowledge with me; among them, Nana Anwasi Agyemang, Kwesi Akumenya Cato, Edward Akurang Dankwa, Sadiku Musah, and Deborah Quartey deserve special mention. I am also grateful to Vicki Wireko-Andoh from Unilever Ghana for her help; to Benjamin Buadu Codjoe and Kobina A. Dodoo for their invaluable research assistance and good company; to my Twi teachers, Yaw Douglas Ansomani and Charles Owu-Ewie, for their patience; to Hannah Serwah Bonsu, Stella “Beauty” Mensah, and Hajara Sanni for their friendship; and to Alicia, Abdul, Mama Boats, Ohemaa, and Yaa for sharing their youthful spirits.
Over the years I have also been privileged to work with brilliant Africanist colleagues who have offered critical insights, asked challenging questions, and provided invaluable advice on my research, both in formal conference proceedings and in the informal exchanges that drive much of what we do as researchers and writers. For helping to make this a much better book, I thank Gareth Austin, Jeffrey Ahlman, Charles Ambler, Karin Barber, Sara Berry, Peter Bloom, Lynne Brydon, Mhoze Chikowero, Stephanie Decker, Laura Fair, Amadou Fofana, Harcourt Fuller, Jennifer Hart, Jennifer Hasty, Anne Hugon, Lisa Lindsay, Tom McCaskie, Ghislaine Lydon, Stephanie Newell, Paul Nugent, Nate Plageman, Ato Quyason, Carina Ray, Kate Skinner, Lynn Thomas, Dmitri van den Bersalaar, Sarah Watkins, and Alice Wiemers. I offer thanks also for the support and feedback received from participants at conferences and workshops organized by the UC African Studies Multi-Campus Research Group in Accra and Dakar; the Berkshire Conferences on the History of Women; the Capitalismo desde el Sur/ Capitalism from Below conference at the Tepoztlán Institute for Transnational History of the Americas, and several sessions at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association. Purnima Bose and Kundai Chirindo also deserve thanks for their comments on later chapter drafts.
The research for this book would not have been possible without the generous assistance of numerous librarians and archivists. I am grateful for the staff at the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) in Accra, Cape Coast, and Sunyani; the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research at the University of Ghana, the National Archives in London; the Guildhall Library in London; the Bodleian Library at Oxford University; the Unilever Historical Archive in Port Sunlight, England; and the Basel Mission Archives in Basel. In particular, I wish to thank Cletus Azangweo, Judith Botchway, and Bright Botwe, who facilitated my research at PRAAD. The entire staff at PRAAD-Sunyani deserves a special thank you for making my daily work in their small reading room so pleasurable. My gratitude also goes to Guy Thomas, whose knowledge of the Union Trading Company collection at the Basel Mission Archives was invaluable. Finally, I am enormously grateful to Diane Backhouse and her successor Helen Unsworth for helping me “leave no stone unturned.” By tracking down rare photographs, digging through unmarked boxes, and pointing out last minute details, both went above and beyond as archivists.
My research came to life as a book during my assistant professorship in the History Department at Willamette University. I am grateful to department colleagues Wendy Peterson Boring, Seth Cotlar, Leslie Dunlap, Bill Duvall, Ellen Eisenberg, Jennifer Jopp, and Bill Smaldone for providing me with the autonomy, encouragement, and support to focus on my manuscript and hone my skills as a teacher-scholar. Department chair Cecily MacCaffrey deserves special mention as a friend, colleague, and committed advocate of my work.
This book was also inspired by a number of students have energized me in the classroom and beyond.