article
Peasants in 19th-century Asante
Current anthropology • 24 (4) • Published In 1983 • Pages: 471-480
By: Arhin, Kwame.
Abstract
In this article Arhin examines if the Asante was a peasant society prior to its incorporation into the world capitalist system in the nineteenth century. He discusses land ownership (owned by matriclans) and the organization of production. According to Arhin, the Asante production unit is ‘conjugal’ and includes husband, wife, adolescent children, pawns, and slaves. ‘The state heavily extracted surpluses from all producers for its upkeep and for the purpose of military and political expansion. (474)’ Arhin also finds that the residents of the capital Kumasi (KUMASIFO) considered themselves more civilized than villagers (KURASEFO) from the surrounding countryside. Based on this evidence, Arhin concludes that a peasantry did exist in Asante before the colonial period. The document includes the comments of eight scholars and Arhin's response.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2000
- Region
- Africa
- Sub Region
- Western Africa
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Historian
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard ;1999
- Field Date
- Not Specified
- Coverage Date
- 1600-1900
- Coverage Place
- Ashanti; Ghana
- Notes
- Kwame Arhin
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 479-480)
- LCCN
- a 63000576
- LCSH
- Akan (African people)