Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T19:37:49.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Perceptions of Socialism in Post-Socialist Ghana: An Experimental Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

James McCain
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Multiple meanings are attached to the ideology of African socialism in post-socialist Ghana. The range and complexity of these meanings are best understood through experimental techniques. In this article Q analysis sheds new light on earlier findings regarding the subjective, affective, and cognitive elements of thinking about African socialism in Ghana. Subtle ideological differences are explored among a homogeneous group of Ghanaians. Ten years after the exile of Kwame Nkrumah from Ghana, and after two military regimes and an intervening civilian regime, Ghanaians are celebrating a renaissance of Nkrumaism. For ten years following Ghana's independence in 1957, Ghanaians were subject to Nkrumah's prolific verbal output concerning “scientific socialism,” consciencism, and Pan-Africanism. The meanings attached to these concepts by Nkrumah and by his followers remain clearly ambiguous.

This ambiguity is understandable given the fact that Nkrumah's often contradictory writings on the subject of scientific socialism were devoid of the rigor which scholars often associate with that term. It could be argued that Nkrumah was more interested in political mobilization and constructive myth-making than ideological rigor. The routinization of the new order involves the transmission of the myths and folklore of the culture over time. The myths of a communal and ancestral heritage, for example, are important for cultural maintenance. This mythology contributes a unique dimension to Ghanaian culture which distinguishes it from others in the minds of natives. The literal applicability of Nkrumah's scientific socialism to any given situation is not as important as the Ghanaian belief that society is, for example, egalitarian or anti-colonial, and contains certain implicit rules circumscribing wealth and exploitation. In the end, the maintenance of cultural order is more dependent on these rules and distinguishing features than on rabbit farms and bicycle plants. While political regimes must provide the latter, they must engage in the transmission of the cultural norms and myths through continuing processes of socialization. Perhaps it is within the context of constructive myth-making that Nkrumah's ideological contributions can be best understood.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , December 1979 , pp. 45 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Africa Report (1963) “African Roundtable.” 8 (May): 19–31.Google Scholar
Anderson, C., von der Mehden, F., and Young, C.. (1967) Issues of Political Development Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Arrighi, G. and Saul, J.. (1968) “Socialism and Economic Development in Tropical Africa.” Journal of Modern African Studies 7 (October): 141–69.Google Scholar
Bienen, H. (1970) Tanzania: Party Transformation and Economic Development Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Block, J. (1961) The Q Sort Method in Personality Assessment and Psychiatric Research. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brockway, A. (1963) African Socialism. London: The Bodley Head.Google Scholar
Brown, S. (1970) “On the Use of Variance Designs in Q Methodology.” Psychological Record 20 (Spring): 170–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, S. and Brenner, D.. (1972) Science, Psychology and Communication. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Brown, S. and Ellithorp, J.. (1970) “Emotional Experiences in Political Groups: The Case of the McCarthy Phenomenon.” The American Political Science Review 64, 2(June): 349–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, S. and Ungs, T.. (1970) “Represtativeness and the Study of Political Behavior: An Application of Q Technique to Reactions to the Kent State Incident.” Social Science Quarterly 51 (December): 514–26.Google Scholar
Brunswik, E. (1956) Perception and the Representative Design of Psychological Experiments. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busia, K. (1967) Africa in Search of Democracy. New York: Praeger Publishers.Google Scholar
Cohen, R. (1968) “Why Trade Union Disunity.” Nigerian Opinion 4 (April-June): 333–36.Google Scholar
Coleman, J. and Almond, G. (eds.). (1960) The Politics of Developing Areas. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Davies, I. (1966) African Trade Unions. Baltimore: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Deutsch, K. (1961) “Social Mobilization and Political Development.” American Political Science Review 55 (September): 497–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dia, M. (1963) “Dakar Colloquium: Search for a Definition.” Africa Report 7 (April): 15–18.Google Scholar
Dion, L. (1959) “Political Ideology As a Tool of Functional Analysis in Socio-Political Dynamics: an Hypothesis.” Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science 25 (February): 47–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fanon, F. (1963) The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press.Google Scholar
Final Report of the Commission of Enquiry on Bribery and Corruption (1975).Accra: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Frantz, C. (1960) “The African Personality: Myth and Reality.” Journal of Human Relations 8 (Spring/Summer): 455–64.Google Scholar
Friedland, W. and Rosberg, C.. (1964) African Socialism. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Guidelines for the Five-Year Development Plan: 1975-1980 (1975). Accra: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Hayford, J. (1965) “Race Emancipation and African Neutrality.” Pp. 49–52 in Emerson, R. and Kilson, M. (eds.) The Political Awakening of Africa. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Johnson, K. (1963) “African Roundtable.” Africa Report 7 (May): 19–31.Google Scholar
Kaunda, K. (1966) Zambia: Independence and Beyond. London: Nelson.Google Scholar
Kenyatta, J. (1964) Harambee! New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kerlinger, F. (1964) Foundations of Behavioral Research. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Kerlinger, F.. (1972) “Q Methodology in Behavioral Research.” Pp. 3–38 in Brown, S. and Brenner, J. (eds.) Science, Psychology and Communication. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Kirk, R. (1968) Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences. Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole Publishers.Google Scholar
Lasswell, H. (1954) “Key Symbols, Signs and Icons.” In Bryson, L., Finkelstein, L., MacIver, R., and McKeon, R. (eds.) Symbols and Values: An Initial Study. New York: Harper Brothers.Google Scholar
Lasswell, H.. and Kaplan, A.. (1966) Power and Society. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
LeVine, V. (1975) Political Corruption: The Ghana Case. Stanford: Hoover Institute.Google Scholar
Mbiti, J. (1970) African Religion and Philosophy. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
McCain, J. (1975) “Ideology in Africa: Some Perceptual Types.” African Studies Review 18, 1 (April): 61–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nimmo, D. and Savage, R.. (1976) Candidates and Their Images: Concepts, Methods, and Findings. Pacific Palisades, California: Goodyear Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Nkrumah, K. (1964a) Africa Must Unite. New York: Praeger Publishers.Google Scholar
Nkrumah, K. (1964b) Consciencism. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Nkrumah, K.. (1965) Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism. New York: International Publishers.Google Scholar
Nkrumah, K.. (1970) “African Socialism Revisited.” Pp. 200–208 in Cartey, W. and Kilson, M. (eds.) The African Reader: Independent Africa. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Nyerere, J. (1968) Uhuru na Ujamaa: Freedom and Socialism. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Obatala, J. (1973) “Black Americans in Africa: a Critical View.” The African Communist 52 (First Quarter): 88–98.Google Scholar
Olatunbosun, D. (1960) “Premature Socialism?” Nigerian Opinion 5 (February): 382–84.Google Scholar
Owusu, M. (1970) Uses and Abuses of Political Power. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Parsons, T. (1964) The Social System. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Quaison-Sackey, A. (1964) Africa Unbound. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Senghor, L. (1969) in Markovitz, I. (ed.) Leopold Senghor and the Politics of Negritude. New York: Atheneum Publishers.Google Scholar
Snyder, R. (1967) “Political Thought of Modibo Keita.” Journal of Modern African Studies 5 (May): 79–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Spark. (1964) “Some Essential Features of Nkrumahism.” New York: International Publishers.Google Scholar
Stephenson, W. (1953) The Study of Behavior: Q Technique and Its Methodology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Stephenson, W. (1967) The Play Theory of Mass Communication. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Taiwo, O. (1966) An Introduction to West African Literature. London: Nelson.Google Scholar
Thomas, D. (1976) “Exploring the Personality-Ideology Interface: Q-sort Consideration of Tomkins' Polarity Theory.” Experimental Study of Politics 5, 3 (December): 47–87.Google Scholar
Tordoff, W. and Mazrui, A.. (1972) “The Left and the Super-Left in Tanzania.” Journal of Modern African Studies 10 (October): 427–45.Google Scholar
Tsiranana, R. (1963) in “African Roundtable.” Africa Report 8 (May): 19–31.Google Scholar
Verba, S. (1966) “Comparative Political Culture.” Pp. 512–60 in Pye, L. and Verba, S. (eds.) Political Culture and Political Development. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Zaninovich, M. (1963) Pp. 55–77 in North, R., Holsti, O., Zaninovich, M., and Zinnes, D. (eds.) Content Analysis. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Zolberg, A. (1966) Creating Political Order. Chicago: Rand McNally.Google Scholar