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The chief, the mine captain and the politician: legitimating power in northern Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Carola Lentz
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Extract

This article explores the strategies of acquiring and legitimating power in Ghana, taking the example of three ‘big men’ from the north, a paramount chief, a mine captain and a politician in the making. After offering some observations on the recent public debate on the (im)morality of power and ‘bigness’, it outlines the biographies of these three ‘big men’ and analyses how they skilfully combine different registers of power and legitimacy. It then analyses the strategies of legitimation and grounds of moral judgement which depend, at least to a certain degree, on the particular relationship of the ‘judge’ with the ‘big man’ in question. The article concludes by discussing the common ‘grammar’ that seems to regulate the debates on ‘bigness’, morality and interest.

Résumé

Cet article examine les stratégies d'acquisition et de légitimisation du pouvoir au Ghana, en prenant l'exemple de trois “grands hommes” du nord, à savoir un chef suprême, un capitaine de mine et un futur politicien. Après quelques observations concernant le débat public récent sur la moralité (ou l'immoralité) du pouvoir et de la “grandeur”, l'article expose à grands traits les biographies de ces trois hommes et analyse leur habileté à combiner différents registres de pouvoir et la légitimé. II analyse ensuite les stratégies de légitimisation et les principes de jugement moral qui dépendent, du moins dans une certaine mesure, de la relation particulière qu'entretient le “juge” avec le “grand homme” en question. L'article conclut en examinant la “grammaire” commune qui semble réguler les debats sur la “grandeur”, la moralité et l'intérêt.

Type
Social capital: the fieldwork problem
Information
Africa , Volume 68 , Issue 1 , January 1998 , pp. 46 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1998

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