This thesis examines the debate between African Traditional Religion (ATR) and sustainable rural development among the Nankani of Northern Ghana. The question as to whether or not ATR has an impact on the continent’s development has risen to the fore as economic crisis deepens in relation to the global context. The study interrogates the concept ‘sustainable rural development’, and the current emphasis on gender as a fundamental part of development, from the religio-cultural perspective of the Nankani. With indigenous epistemological underpinnings, the thesis examines the subject from the perspective of a ‘native researcher’, within the much polarized “insider/outsider” debate of contemporary discourses on theory and method. Discussed in seven chapters, the study is structured into three parts. The first three chapters constitute the introductory part consisting of the outline, an ethnographic account of the Nankani and methodology. The second part, also of three chapters, discusses the issues of sustainable development, gender and the issues of research reflexivity. Moving beyond the classical descriptive principles of the phenomenology of religion, the core methodological tool, the section examines the internal dynamics underlying rural African community living as a contribution to the process of understanding. The third part, consisting of a single chapter, concludes the thesis with discussions on the outstanding issues as a means to ‘mending the broken pieces’. Even though the African religio-cultural worldview is a major determinant in terms of sustainable rural development, the thesis contends that the inability of the parties to consider the other’s viewpoint is an outstanding factor.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:640451 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Amenga-Etego, R. M. |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/18232 |
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