A MOTE QN RESEARCH IK PROGRESS; "7PME3J IN SOCIAL AND ECCWOMC CHANGE" Pradence A* Berger* In November of 1975? I began s o c i al anthropological r e s e a r ch work on t he economic a c t i v i t i es and l i fe s i t u a t i o ns of r u r al Akan women..in Ghana- The research p r o j e ct is one of five s i m i l ar area p r o j e c ts included in a wider comparative p r o j e ct at t he Department of Social inthropology, U n i v e r s i ty of Stockholm, Sweden. The p r o- j e c ts have -a shared methodological framework, which aims u l t i m a t e ly at generating hypotheses on t he n a t u re and b a s es of women1 s p a r t i c i- pation in s o c i al and economic l i fe in five c o u n t r i es in Africa, Europe, and Latin America. The a r ea p r o j e ct in Ghana has been granted affiliation with the Institute of African Studies, Legon, and has received the aid and cooperation of several researchers from that and other departments at the University of Ghana. The relative lack of social scientific research material on the roles and activities of women in Ghana, as in other ;7est African societies, ha,s begun to "be corrected to a certain extent in recent years. However, attention has primarily 'boon, directed to only very few categories of Tvest African women. One of these categories is the most visible one of women as traders. Another category that has only recently received the attention of researchers is comprised of salaried urban women and women belonging to the educated elite in West African societies. Yet another category of women which is at least as economically important as trading women, and certainly more numerically significant than the elite, educated category of ^Institute of African Studies, Legpn. women, has nonetheless received far less attention than it deserves or is required by the current urgent socio-economic state of affairs characteristic of most countries? the economies of which are "based on non-industrialized agricultural production. This category is made up of rural women, almost a ll of whom are actively engaged in agriculture or in other primary economic activities such as fishing and gathering. The present project is an attempt to contribute to the con- struction of a sound ba,sis for much-needed further research by extensively mapping out the constructs of social and economic realities for a small number of women in Ghana* It is to be noted that this research is not for the purpose of validating or refuting tiy pre-formulated hypothesis or theory concerning women!s roles in Ghana's-social and economic systems? but aims at the generation of grounded hypotheses from field data, "by identifying empirical areas of behaviour and attitude in terms of which the life situations of the women studied are patterned. This progress report is merely an attempt to systematize and document my research activities and to order some of the thoughts and ideas I have about the research at this stage in my ?/ork. As such, and because research is s t i ll in progress, any, indeed all, of the ideas expressed here must be considered as inconclusive, probably subject to modification, and in any event incomplete. In addition to perusal of literature and other archival documents relevant to different aspects of the research topic, active field research has been started in a rural town of about 4,000 inhabitants near Dounaa-JUienkro in western Brong-Ahafo. The population is almost entirely Doxmaa-Akan, descendants of a group of emigrants from Akwamu, who left the Eastern Region about three-and-a-half centuries ago, and those they incorporated on the way to Dormaa 70 Districto The first two months in the field were spent in can- ducting a census survey in cno of the four military-cum-descent determined "quarters1* of the town (and incidentally the one in which I am resident when in the town) to obtain basic factual information about occupational structure for men and women, the range of economic activities for all inhabitants above the age of 5 years, the extent of formal education, fertility, residence patterns, marital obliga- tions, marital careers, polygyny, property and i ts acquisition (of immoveable, and moveable but durable items), land use, physical mobility patterns, kinship networks, kinship obligations, female- female relationships, male-female relationships, and use of household and more public space by men and women. This quarter contains 34 structures, 42 compounds and about 600 inhabitants. Number of "households" is more difficult to determine as I shall return to below. Remaining field time has been and continues to be spent in completing and correcting details of information elicited fr©m the initial census survey, collecting individual life-pha®e histories, and the collection of ethnographic data en the town, Dormaa District, and the district, regional, and national economic, political and social systems, as well as the international economic structure in so far as it affects the movements, ideas, and possibilities of the town's inhabitants, for example in the organization of cocoa pro- duction and marketing, the agricultural production of foodstuffs, and the realisation of personal ambitions. In spite of the above-mentioned reservations and the fact that compilation and analysis of quantitative data from the initial census survey is as yet incomplete, it is yet possible to state here some of the indications I have thus far perceived in my data which may be of interest to others- With regard to occupational structures for 71 men and -women, and to range of economic activities, there is a clear indication that the variety of goods - service - or cash income- bringing activity is (greater for men than for women, i . e. they have more to choose from, and that the' range of such economic activity at any one time is greater but:less, constant and reliable* -with each giving smaller yields for the individual woman than for the individual man. This statement requires further explanation. "Whether in res- ponse to ;twhat work, do you do?n or to more explicit enumerated questions as to how they satisfied 8 needs which seem to be basic to Ghanaian society in general, and to the Akan and the towi culture in particular (see below), men were able to reply cocoa farmer, farmer of foodstuffs, poultry farmer, palm-wine tapper, fitter, store-keeper, carpenter, labourer on an agricultural plantation, -school teacher, driver, driver's mate, revenue officer, clerks in'various district offices, policeman, soldier, weaver, mason, kola buyer, apprentices of various sorts, as well as holder of numerous traditional and religious titled offices, etc., either solely, or more often, in addition to their activities. "what work do you do?w, women often replied "menye hwee". Nothing. Although in response to how they satisfied .their needs for (1) food, (2) cloth and more expensive items of jewellry, (3) cash, (4) medicine, (5) meeting funeral expenses, (6) tools, (7) school fees for offspring, and (8) "kete-kete" or miscellaneous small but necessary items such as soaps, pomades, talcum powder, razor blades, chewing sticks, sponges, hair-plaiting thread, footwear, costume jewellry, head- kerchiefs, storage boxes for personal belongings, blouses, make-up, lamps or candles, towels, kerosene, etc. they were of course able to give -answers which more closely approximated their almost ceaseless activity and labour. Women were able to reply marginal or sometime trader, collector (of firewood, snails, fruits and non-cultivated food items, etc.), palm-wine seller, in addition In response to the general question faimer y seamstress, 72 to farming and domestic activities, with most women, combining most of these activities almost constantlyc In addition adult women received material and cash money aid from matrikin, husbands, sometimes female relatives of husbands, and children to a greater extent than adult men. Women s t i ll residing in the town were never once able to give a salaried position of whatever kind as one of their occupations, though for a few absent female kin who had migrated to more urban settings, vague reference was made to the effect that they were working in some kind of salaried position. Most female migrants seem to have left "to go with" their husbands, or for young girls (as well as young boys) under some fostering arrangement. A few adolescent girls were away being fostered and serving as maidservants to older female, both kin and non-kin. I am as yet unable to say anything about-' Males were on the whole more highly fonaally educated than women, although tentatively, reservation is made here for tradi- tional education in terns of expertise, training and skills not acquired in organized school foun. Boys had a lower school inter- ruption rate than g i r l s. the quality of fomal schooling females and males receive. Ferti- l i ty was in general found to be rather high, being near the national average of 6+ children (live births) per woman ever having :given birth. An interesting point is that there is a slight indication that women having children seem to be slightly more likely to have been given a share of land or of a cocoa faun by husbands than women without children, though I am as yet unable to say anything about the significance of number of children or the sex of those children to immoveable property acquisition by means of gifts. As regards sleeping arrangements, men most often had an entire room to themselves, married men invariably so, sleeping there alone except when visited by their wives. Women whether married or not most often slept together with a number of other women and young children. 73 Both older man and older women had a number of small children and young people sleeping with them. Young1 unmarried men sometimes shared rooms v/ith other young unmarried men. :iMalef! rooms wore decidedly less congested than "female" rooms. Residence for presently married persons was mostly duolocal except for the considerable muslim component (whether poly/gynous or not, and whether Akan or not) of the survey for those staying mostly in the town. Although it scans that for those staying part or much of the time in nearby and associated farming villages, the tendency is for monogamously married husband and wife to co-reside while at village even if they live duolocally in the -town- I have as yet l i t t le information on residence at village for polygynously married persons. Strong kinship t i e s, P°lygyny> lack of places for a potentially neolocal couple to move to in a setting where houses are mostly family-owned and family- disposed structures, lack of funds on the part of the man to pay rent for a new place t.o live even if there were any* and habit, all make duolocality the most feasible residential marital arrangement. In the few cases in which a man and his wife or wives (the l a t t er was exhibited by muslims only) co-resided in the same compound, fewer s t i ll were noted in which m^n and wife actually occupied the Interestingly, although muslims same room on a full-time basis. when married invariably co-resided in the same compound whether polygynously married or not, few of the married couples who co- resided in the same room were muslim. Polygyny, either in i ts more orthodox form or in i ts just as institutionalized but less formalised variants of " fri aid ship s:r Tnd "outside wives" can be said to be nearly ubiquitous, with formalized polygynous marriages about half of all present marriages. tion, the number of socially-recognized and socially valid "outside" marital alliances for which incomplete or no marriage ceremonies were perfouned, brings the total of actual "formalized" polygynous marriages somewhat higher. Both men ,-aid women who were presaitly or In addi- 74 ever had been married, commonly had histories of several marriages. Men, once married, tend to remain in a married state, with intervals between different wives being short or non-existent (due to polygyny), whereas women commonly exhibited marital careers which contained one or more longer intervals of being unmarried between successive unions- There is an indication that older men and women return to an unmarried state, though this tendency is decidedly less marked for men than for •woman. In any case, I found no^ case of an older man having to foid for himself viiereas there are several of older womesi having to do so. Women did not inherit wealth in property in land and houses and t i t l ed offices as often as men, though as regards rooms in houses distribution by sex is more even. TJhen women did acquire immoveable property in land, houses and rooms in houses through inheritance, they did so primarily from other women as mothers, mothers' sisters, and own sisters, and occasionally from fathers. However, for immoveable property that was not self-acquired, women seem usually to have had to rely on the gpodwill of husbands or male matrikin, who granted them such property as gifts, or as a token of thanks for long and faithful service and support instead of remuneration or rightful gain through inheritance. Men on the whole possessed more self-acquired property thsn women in terms of immoveable property, and moveable but durable property, thou^i this statement is qualified, for women's self-acquired property was also generally different as to kind from men's self-acquired property. Cultural values temporarily aside, men's self-acquired property generally had a greater money-exchange value than women's. There does not seem to be sexual segregation in terms of type of farm worked as has been noted by researchers in some other areas, as WDmen here are engaged in both food fanning and cocoa farming. 75 However, several points are worth noting here. 5br women, food crops arc often cash crops as wall. Women as wives and daughters are often the primary, if not the only, source of labour for their husbands and parents, and are often remunerated with food crops which they con some or sell for cash. Also, few men faun only food- stuffs, whereas mrny women do so6 The number of men who own usufruct rights to land is far larger than the number of yjomen who do so, ,-gnd the size of male holdings in land exceeds that of female holdings, although the proportion of women in farming is greater th«ji the corresponding proportion of men. TJomen also tend to continue to farm longer th?si men, indeed it is not uncommon for older women in their seventies to go to farm more frequently than either men; (of any age) or younger w^men, .2nd to remain at farm for. longer hours. The return for male agricultural labour seems to be more tangible and greater than for women who often contribute ..their labour- on farms for l i t t le and/or delayed remuneration. Women in cocoa farming usually work on land that is not their ovn, 3ad women are most often dependent upon their husbands or occasionally their male matrikin, for the establishment of t h e ir ovn properties in Imd for both food and cocoa production. Men inherit land as has been noted above, or they receive a share from fathers before his death, or they purchase or hire usufruct rights to land. 17omen mostly receive land as gifts.from husbands, from mothers or other female matrikin, or they have "gone to beg" for usufruct rights, on the understanding that they can be "sacked" from the land' whenever the owner decides ho needs i t. Both men .and women also farm on an abusa sharecropping ba,sis, for married couples sometimes as a unit. Fev/ hire labourers to help them work their land. Of those hiring labourers, women hiring in their own right were by far in the minority. 76 The amount and kind of kinship and domestic obligations -women are subject to, appear to restrict their physical mobility to a greater degree than corresponding obligations do for men. Both men and women seem to have considerable kinship obligations which for married persons reflects on prestaticn on behalf of one another- Jbr men these obligations tend to be realized in teuns of material contributions, for women in terms of time and labour input* Both female-female and male-female relationships seem to be fraught with tension and speculation, the former primarily because of competition, the l a t t er because of sexuality, either potential or realized. Finally, I find that women spend most of their waking time either on their farms* within or in close proximity to enclosed compounds - either their own or someone elses - or going to or coming from these places, while men appear only sporadically within compounds, and spaid most of their waking time either om their fauns, at the crossroads, on the verandahs facing the main street, in the main street itself, on the benches of the palm-wine dispensary in the main public sc[uare outside the palace, or going to or coming from these places* I deem it necessary to say an additional word about residential or "staying" arrangements in the torn. For purposes of the census survey, information was collected by visiting each compound within a structure, and after asking about the person who was in charge of the house (fie wura) who wa,s sometimes different from the nominal house- OTHier, and sometimes different again from the person responsible for paying the annual house revenue, I asked - taking room by room - about the people sleeping in the room concerned, and the person (or persons) to whom the room "belonged** - i.e» the person who had the right to decide how the room was to be disposed of in the event of his or her absence; the person who had the right to keep the key and take it with her or him on going out of the compound* Each interview was completed for sleeping', for cooking, for eating, for bathinj, by asking how those who usually .slept in the compound actually the compounds "for everything else", i . e. for storage of personal items, for passing time not spent in any specific work activity. irQse" patterns took all possible permutations, especially for many women who did more things in more different places than most men, which makes it difficult to say anything .about the structure of "households" at this point. Most often a woman was considered to be a member of her mother's household or compound, or of the household or compound in which she cooked. But as this was sometimes due to lack of kitchen space in another compound, this does not say very much. Most often, although compound members shared the compound for sleeping purposes only, food-provisio. and food-con sumption networks could be, and often were, different for each member. Qp.ite possibly, "household" either as an empirical or an analytical concept may not be particularly relevant just heroe Commonly women (viio were the more mobile as regards. ni^itly conjugal visiting), usually slept in one compound, but cooked, ate, and bathed in another, or slept in one compound (maternal) cooked in another, aricl ate and bathed and "stayed" in yet another compound, or slept pjicl cooked end bathed in cme:compound but ate and "stayed" in another.7 Muslim "households" can be said to be more easily defined in that most often, women performed most of their activities in a single compound, and in those cases where they cooked elsewhere because of lack of adequate kitchen space, cooking was the only activity performed outside of the "sleeping" compound. Tfcmen most often cooked for and sent food to at least 2 and sometimes more different compounds, to husbands and matrikin who ate in different compounds, md many men received food from 2 or 3 3nd sometimes more different hearths - from wives, sisters, mothers, and wives - or sisters-of-friends. 78 As regards census interview mechanics, census interviews were conducted in Twi, by myself for simpler questions, and with the help of two accompanying assistants, 1 male, 1 female, when my own lin- guistic Twi threshold, was exceeded and explanations in answers to questions became intricate and detailed. We were refused entrance to one structure Data for two others has yet to be completed. It might perhaps be in order to say a cautious word here about the relative situations of men and women in the toisa over time from the data already collected. Again, indications perceivedare neces- sarily somewhat specula,tory at this stage. Nevertheless, I feel that the data, collected so far is sound aaougji to permit careful specula- tion, as factual responses, complemented by my own observations will hopefully yield more reliable information as to the extent to which these indica- tions obtain. further research including attitudinal and impressional as well The northern half of Dormaa District is populated primarily by the descendants of a group of emigrants, the core of which left j&wamufie near Akosombo in the Eastern Region some three or four centuries agD after a succession dispute. Their migratory route took them over Nyanawase near Nsawam, Kentenkreso near Koforidua Kumawu, Asumegya, Suntreso near Kumasi, Bomaa, Duayaw Nkwanta, up to Bondouku. in C^aman, Ivory Coast, back to Chiraa, Abesim and then finally to Dormaa District - first to Wamfie where they met a group of migrant Denkyira, to Ammasu and to Dormaa-Ahenkro (Pamu). At all these major stopping plaices, new followers were incorporated and old ones were left behind. Departure from most places seems to have been precipitate due to power conflicts and c i v il wars between constant r e a l i s i ng Akan sub-groups. In addition, the northwestern, portion of Dormaa District (now Pamu-Berekum Forest Reserve) was occupied by gp. independent group of Asensu or Asunsu Akan migrants from Ivory Coast 79 Ibr most of i ts migration, the Dormaa. in the l a te 17th Century. group seems tc have either been wider the enforced ovorlordship of Asante or in the process of rebelling against that overlo rd ship. Relations "between the Dormaa and Assnte seem to have vacillated between mutually respectful if somewhat reluctant and suspicious association, grid outright conflict. Protected by their reputation of being fierce Akwainu warriors, and by a strong military organiza- tion, the Dormaas claim that they were never really beaten by Asante and chose to quit the battlefields with honour, f i t t i ng forces and ruling clpjis as intact as possible whenever they were betrayed or it seemed as if Asante military might temporarily had gained ascendancy. Hence the long migration. other Akan sub-groups, notably the Ashdnti, the Akuapem and the Brong, the Dormaas emphasize the fact that their .common history gives them a certain degree of cultural distinctness. iUthough they of course share much with The organization of most towns in Northern Doimaa District, as in most other Akan areas, s t i ll reflects a military arrangement, with the chief's palace at the crossroads and his wing chiefs and lieutenants immedia,te3y beyond and surrounding it (30 that they could be quickly summoned in time of need) and with the remainder of the populace at the periphery. In addition, there were guard outposts and hunting camps beyond settlement borders. This military organiza- tion reflected an essentially ,?nd almost exclusively male political power structure, and sexual segregation of other roles md duties was subsequently nearly complete in other, aspects of life as well. Men and women occupied mutually exclusive universes which seem nonetheless to have been essentially complementary to one another instead of one being superordinate to the other. Although most men were probably not actively engaged in war most of the time, it was'probably not a very secure time, especially for the male rulers, who especially were 80 It may well be that it was during susceptible to being1 killed. these centuries that the matrilineal principle received i ts greatest solidifying impetus. Mothers and sisters of chiefs might have had a slightly better chance of surviving holocausts, and no matter what horrors they were subjected to in times of war, offspring would invariably be royal, and property wDuld not be alienated. Titled offices were military offices and as such were not the property of women. The only exceptions were of course the Queen Mother and the female lineage elder, reminders that although kings and chiefs were also commanders-in-chief of great armies* they owed their kingship and offices to descent. So political power, already patriarchic, nepotic and theocratic, because it had also become largely in distinguishable from military power, was also largely unobtainable by women. As far as economic activity is concerned, it seems women work most of the economic system, certainly locally, and they also made up a considerable portion of those involved in long-distance trade. Markets were manned more than they were womanned - the influx of women who traded in commodities other than foodstuffs or crafts in markets being a consequence of colonialism, j&id, as men traded in such items as gold and slaves and more costly and prestigious items, no doubt greater profits were realized by men as a group than by women on the economic front was greatly augmented by the bargaining power they also possessed, in terms of kinship, as keys to political power for men and as determinants of social rights and Jural status for everyone. The control of women's labour seems to have been largely in the hands of their families prior to marriage, .and in the hands of husbands subsequent to marriage, but as their activities were absolutely vital to the functioning of the community and their well-being was to be assured, daughters and wives were provided as independent means of taking care of themselves. Rights in land were -accorded to wom-^i on an equal basis with, their brothers? and because agriculture end collecting activities were almost exclu- sively in the hand3 cf women, they also were provided sufficient land to work by their husbands upon marriage. IThile this ind while no condition The conception of "traditional" (pro-colonial) Akan society being- made up of a group of individuals who were all, except for the chiefs, basically equal in terms of citizenship and social and political rights in an orgy of conmunalism is subject to some modi- fication I find. There were rulers, commoners, end slaves, differen- tiated from one another and among themselves by definitions of economic functions and possession of political power. society was by no means a class-based society in Euro-iimerican terms, it was nonetheless very well stratified, seems to have been conceived of as permanent, and gifted and hard- working individuals met few barriers to their upward and outward strivings, antecedents were and are nevertheless s t i ll meticulously kept tract of. This was and is particularly so in the case of women from whom descent is reckoned. The 17th, -]8th and 19th centuries saw the incorporation of many persons of servant and slave status into Dounaa society, as in other Akan groups. Men served as labourers on the land (remember Akan men did not work the land), sometimes even being granted caretakership of considerable parcels of land, as well as being given the sisters of their masters as wives in return for services rendered and in order to keep landed property from being alienated. Male servants also represented their masters in vthe market-places. T/omen served as domestic servants and became wives and mothers of Akan men. Differentiation between women in terms of ancestry is s t i ll tangible, and even visible among older women in the to-yn, with many older female indigenes not having pierced ears while older females 82 who started their history in the tovn as servants or slaves have holes an their ears. A common theme in succession and inheritance disputes in the torn turns on the alleged illegitimacy of one of the disputants claims because of his reputed slave origins. All this is leading up to a statement of the observation that - ideals of Eousseauian romanticism to the contrary — everybody was not equal in traditional Dormaa JUcsn society, nor even approximately so as regards exercise of political power and in terms of social rights aid popular conception. Economic power on the other hand was more within the reach of most people and there seems to be sound reason for believing that approximate equality in economic terms was indeed realized. Tfomen as a group exhibited great differences among themselves (as did men) both conceptually and in terms of social rights by birth. They were on the whole, however, at least as economically assertive and influaitial •- if indeed not slightly more so, and recogiised as such - than men as a group. On the other hand, in terms of authority and exercise of political power, women as a group were decidedly sub- ordinate to men as a group. jind what about now? T7ell, succinctly put, women in the torn seem to be losing ground in terms of power, and on more fronts than previously, as currently their traditional economic assertiveness is greatly curtailed, and the degree of independent economic activity is l e s s, jjnother main trump card, reliance on matrikin, is made more difficult by hard economic times faced by almost everybody these days. "JShereas women used to receive only supplementary or supportive aid from husbands and matrikin, they are now most oftai very definitely supported and almost completely economically dependent on men and matrikin to a degree quite distressing to themselves. The independent incomes which women previously could expect to keep for themselves, they are now forced to contribute to increasingly deficient food and domestic budgets. Schematically, I'"wouldsay that wbmeh's general situation, as a oonsecjuence of t h e ir weakened economic situation, can be represented as relative to men!s thusly: Tradition pJly Wow same to greater weaker weaker s t i ll weaker Economically Politically: - authority - decisions concerning others than herself Socially approximately same Oonoeptually same to greater weaker weaker In addition, there is also currently considerable emotional distress experienced by both men and women in feelings of expressed dissatisfaction and insecurity. Ibr women, however, this emotional uneasiness seems to different implications than for m