The bureaucratic making of national culture in North-Western Ghana

In this article I explore the making of national culture through bureaucratic routines in the Centre for National Culture in Wa, North-Western Ghana. I focus on an aspect of bureaucracy that is usually left aside: the productivity and creativity of bureaucratic routines. State, nation and culture ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of modern African studies 2014-06, Vol.52 (2), p.277-299
Main Author: Guessan, Konstanze N'
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African studies
Bargaining
Borders
Boundaries
Bureaucracy
Creativity
Cultural groups
Cultural heritage
Cultural institutions
Cultural policy
Cultural preservation
Cultural studies
Culture
Festivals
Ghana
Knowledge
Legitimacy
National culture
Native culture
Negotiation
Objectification
Politics
Productivity
Social Reproduction
Villages
Xylophones
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Summary:In this article I explore the making of national culture through bureaucratic routines in the Centre for National Culture in Wa, North-Western Ghana. I focus on an aspect of bureaucracy that is usually left aside: the productivity and creativity of bureaucratic routines. State, nation and culture are not fixed entities, but have to be constantly produced through processes of negotiation and meaning-making and through the continual reproduction of their boundaries and the categories that determine what is to be promoted or preserved. Bureaucratic routines and administrative processes are analysed as practices objectifying and nationalising culture and naturalising the boundaries and categories created through the cultural officers' practices.
ISSN:0022-278X
1469-7777
DOI:10.1017/S0022278X14000020