Sandra E. Greene

"Sandra Greene argues convincingly that gender and ethnicity in precolonial Africa can only be understood together. Her book focuses on the history of the Anlo-Ewe of southeastern Ghana over three centuries and demonstrates that the very factors that affected social constructions of gender also had profound implications for the construction of ethnic identities." "Greene documents the changes that occurred in ethnic boundaries as the community absorbed refugees, traders, and conquerors and later began to redefine the boundaries between insiders and outsiders. She then analyzes the way shifting ethnic definitions and competition for scarce resources affected gender relations. Clan elders increasingly sacrificed the interests of the young women under their authority in marital arrangements because of an increasing preference for clan endogamy. Greene explores the way some of these women were able to reassert their voices through membership in influential "outsider" religious orders. These new alignments formed a base of support from which Anlo women and a number of ethnic outsiders successfully challenged their own marginalization. Thus by the end of the nineteenth century, the boundary that separated insiders and outsiders in Anlo society and the ways in which men and women interacted had changed significantly." "Greene eschews simplistic analyses of oppression and agency. All in Anlo society are given a voice and allowed to speak from their own perspective, establishing a new and exciting standard for analyzing the history of social relations in precolonial Africa."--BOOK JACKET.

In this groundbreaking book, Sandra E. Greene explores the lives of three prominent West African slave owners during the age of abolition. These first-published biographies reveal personal and political accomplishments and concerns, economic interests, religious beliefs, and responses to colonial rule in an attempt to understand why the subjects reacted to the demise of slavery as they did. Greene emphasizes the notion that the decisions made by these individuals were deeply influenced by their personalities, desires to protect their economic and social status, and their insecurities and sympathies for wives, friends, and other associates. Knowing why these individuals and so many others in West Africa made the decisions they did, Greene contends, is critical to understanding how and why the institution of indigenous slavery continues to influence social relations in West Africa to this day. --Back cover.