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Structural Change in Western Africa as a Legacy of European Colonialism: The Labour System in Ghana and the Ivory Coast

In this article, the author analyses the transformation of the labour system in the Ivory Coast and in Ghana. The empirical research was undertaken during two field trips in urban centres (Abidjan and Accra). The transformation of the labour system is shown on a macro- and a micro-level: the structural change of the economy on the one hand, and life-stories of men in their fifties and sixties on the other. This comparative research project shows the symbiosis which resulted from the confrontation of global and local elements. The results demonstrate processes of globalization which took place in urban areas in many social fields, and with a lesser impact in rural areas. In the 1940s and 1950s, a restructuration of the labour system happened which the life-stories of the older men demonstrate. This paradigmatic analysis of transformation processes shows the mixtures, the intertwining and the embedding of these local West African societies in a global history.

Key Words: global history • globalization • life-stories • older men • transformation processes

Current Sociology, Vol. 51, No. 3-4, 287-304 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0011392103051003008


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