African Market Women: Seven Life Stories from Ghana » (New Edition)

Gracia Clark is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University Bloomington. She is author of Onions Are My Husband: Survival and Accumulation by West African Market Women and has edited several volumes dealing with gender and economic life in West Africa.

In these lively life stories, women market traders from Ghana comment on changing social and economic times and on reasons for their prosperity or decline in fortunes. Gracia Clark shows that market women are intimately connected with economic policy on a global scale. Many work at the intersection of sophisticated networks of transnational commerce and migration. They have dramatic memories of independence and the growth of their new nation, including political rivalries, price controls, and violent raids on the market. The experiences of these women give substance to their reflections on globalization, capital accumulation, colonialism, technological change, environmental degradation, teenage pregnancy, marriage, children, changing gender roles, and spirituality. Clark's commentary illuminates the complex historical and cultural setting of these deeply revealing lives.

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: Trading Lives 1

1 Abenaa Adiiya

Portrait: An Adventurer on the Road 30

Story: Patience and Pleading 32

2 Maame Kesewaa

Portrait: A Quiet Saver 63

Story: Someone Has Set Herself a Goal 65

3 Madame Ataa

Portrait: A Good Citizen 83

Story: A Man Would Marry You Properly 84

4 Amma Pokuaa

Portrait: A Market Daughter 113

Story: All of Them Depend upon Me 115

5 Auntie Afriyie

Portrait: A Shrewd Dealer 129

Story: If You Have Wisdom, You Can Do Many Jobs 131

6 Sister Buronya

Portrait: An International Observer 164

Story: If I Had Money, I Would Go 165

7 Maame Nkrumah

Portrait: A Grateful Sister 187

Story: She Has Cared for Me and My Children 189

Conclusion: Little by Little 218

Appendix 247

Glossary 251

Notes 255

References 259

Index 263