Accra’s Complex Linguistic Landscape
If you ask anyone in Accra, they will tell you that Hausa is not a Ghanaian language. In fact, almost everyone I talk to about my...
There’s a grain of truth in every joke
Mama Suzie is crumpled in a heap on the ground, Her kitenge covering her face. Mama Francis points my attention to the situation with her...
Vehicles of Sociality: The Role of Transportation in Verbal Play, Spatial Negotiation, and Exchange
Taking a ride in a tro-tro is one of many small pleasures in Accra. I usually take the back seat and squeeze in by the lefthand side to...
Market Values
There’s a German woman and man staying long-term in this same hostel. She is a doctor volunteering in a hospital here; he is an...
Urbanization and “the Other”
This past week in Portland, Oregon a White Supremacist murdered two men on the city’s light rail train. The men were trying to stop him...
Asymmetry in Accra: Divergent Urbanization in Two Scenes
Deborah Pellow (2002) describes Accra as a “cultural mosaic of ethnic groups and physical layouts,” teeming with a wide array of...
Hustle and Stillness
Yesterday I got roped in With four laughing Swiss Young men who are training to be doctors. The hostel provided us a walking tour of...