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...
(In)completeness and Constructed Urban Space in Accra
Accra is the kind of place that demands attention from every one of your senses. The most immediate sensation is the heat, which seems to...