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SUMMARY:Fifty Years of Family Change in Ghana (West Africa) - Professor Ch
 ristine Oppong (Cambridge University alumna\; Senior Member\, Wolfson Coll
 ege\, Cambridge): Adjunct Professor of Applied Anthropology\, University o
 f Ghana\, Legon
DTSTART:20131203T180000Z
DTEND:20131203T190000Z
UID:TALK47741@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Pauline Essah
DESCRIPTION:Research on family relationships and systems in Ghana  began d
 uring the colonial era. This seminar is based on  the author’s own studi
 es starting in 1962 and harks  back to the earlier work of her Cambridge m
 entors. Recent ethnographic case studies by students from the  Institute o
 f African Studies at the University of Ghana  also provide vivid illustrat
 ions of post modernity in  the new millenium. The main subjects addressed 
 are social and biological reproduction\, demographic  innovation and child
  development. A dynamic element is  added by the study of relative resourc
 es\, power and  decision making\, as well as evidence of role stress\,  st
 rain and conflict. The mixed methods used\, frameworks  for analysis devis
 ed and multidisciplinary approaches adopted are indicated. Finally and bri
 efly the precarious post modern relationships described and the alarming o
 utcomes observed for under fives are   compared and contrasted with parall
 el evidence on  families and children from the UK. Attention is called  to
  the powerful contextual effects in both countries of  structurally adjust
 ed economies\, population mobility\, deregulated  institutions\, neolibera
 l\, individualistic and materialistic values\, the individuation of famili
 al  responsibilities\, and increasing material inequality of  the populati
 ons. In both places a crucial element for  more effective neolocal family 
 functioning\, desired  reproductive innovations and optimal child outcomes
  is  the level of  participation of men in the domestic  domain.  
LOCATION:Beves Room\, King's College\, Cambridge\, CB2 1ST
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