The Antinomies of Heritage: Tradition and the Work of Weaving in a Ghanaian Workshop

Main author: Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
Format: Book Chapters           
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id eprints-34777
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic GN Anthropology
description Exploring the values attached to heritage through an ethnography of craftwork in southern Ghana, this chapter looks at how the routine, quotidian sociality of weaving, engaged in by young men seeking livelihoods, embodies ideas about cultural practices which are quite different than those enacted by local elites. Looking at the antinomies of local craft heritage from the perspective of an annual festival held in celebration of weaving traditions, the material considers how social and political hierarchies, and their attendant conflicting power relations shape engagement with local heritage. Colonial history, Ghana’s post-independence national heritage policies and the contemporary experience of youths waiting for work point to how heritage has become contested as both an element of elite spectacle and the foundation of crafting livelihoods. Approaching craft as a socially stratified and politically fraught part of local livelihood practices offers the opportunity to enliven heritage studies and move beyond elite politics to the lived realities of heritage traditions.
author_additional Baillie, Britt
author_additionalStr Baillie, Britt
format Book Chapters
author Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
author_facet Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
authorStr Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
author_letter Clifford Collard, Niamh Jane
title The Antinomies of Heritage: Tradition and the Work of Weaving in a Ghanaian Workshop
publisher Palgrave Macmillan
publishDate 2020
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/34777/