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Africa Today 49.1 (2002) 107-108



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McCaskie, T. C. 2000. Asante Identities: History and Modernity in An African Village 1850–1950. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 277 pp. $49.95 (cloth); $22.95 (paper).

As the precolonial capital of the Asante Kingdom and the economic trading center of modern Ghana, few cities in Africa evoke a greater sense of the changing face of Africa in the manner Kumasi does. This reputed “blood-drenched” capital of the Asante was the focus of Anglo-Asante relationships and a center of social and military conflict at the close of the nineteenth century. It was subsequently reconstructed into a thriving economic and administrative center of the colonial enterprise; and in recent years this modern city has again been transformed by numerous Shell shops, internet cafes, and Chinese restaurants. In sum, the weight of traditional, colonial, and postcolonial history permeates the streets of Kumasi. In Asante Identities, Tom McCaskie captures the very essence of these historical forces and the manner in which they have swept up and changed people’s lives in Asante.

The author cites inspiration from the Italian and French focus on microhistory in combination with the German “history of everyday life” in providing a richly textured, detailed narrative of Ad3beba, a village and now residential suburb of Kumasi. The village is directly tied to the Manwere stool, and was founded as part of a land grant Asantehene Kwaku Dua I awarded Kwasi Brantuo in gratitude for personal service. McCaskie traces the development of this settlement from when it was established, in the 1840s, as a small village on the outskirts of the Asante capital to when it became engulfed into the urban center of Kumasi. In this way, he situates the village and the lives of the inhabitants therein within the greater social, [End Page 107] political, and economic waves that have swirled around and crashed over it. Topics touched upon include the position of nhenkwaa, the structure and changing role of traditional authority, the Anglo-Asante conflict, indirect rule, witchcraft, the introduction of wage economy, consumerism, and urbanism (to list a few). Specific individuals are introduced to the reader and in meticulous detail connected with these historical changes. Through this close-up lens on Ad3beba, McCaskie develops a broad perspective on the impact these historical social changes have wrought on greater Asante society over the last two centuries. In this way, the tensions of cultural change wrought by the combined forces of colonialism and capitalism become visible.

While McCaskie’s extensive knowledge of Asante history is evident, he acknowledges and owes much of the success of this microhistorical approach to the Ashanti Social Survey undertaken under the guidance of Meyer Fortes. In the mid-1940s, Fortes and other scholars and Asante informants collected and wrote down “invaluable testimonies” on anything and everything to do with Asante society. As a prelude to writing this book, McCaskie has mined these records for exacting details and personal reminiscences of village life recorded at that time. The result is a sensitive portrayal of lives lived in Ad3beba, which are skillfully contextualized within the greater social historical forces of change. This contextualization is complemented by the use of numerous Twi terms interspersed and translated throughout the text, which provides an enriched sense and understanding of Asante cultural ethos and sense of being.

Asante Identities discloses the historical development of Asante and captures the essence of Asante culture as it is today, juxtaposed between traditional society and modernity, and the author’s commitment and personal sensitivity toward historicizing Asante culture are revealed. In sum, this book is a welcome addition to Asante social history, and should be considered a must for any scholar interested in the issues of traditional society and modernity in Africa and beyond.

Brian C. Vivian
University of Calgary



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