Political Belonging in the Ghana–Togo Borderlands Citizenship and the Vote at the Margins of the State
Book contents
- Political Belonging in the Ghana–Togo Borderlands
- Reviews
- African Studies Series
- Political Belonging in the Ghana–Togo Borderlands
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Orthography and Translation
- Abbreviations
- 1 ‘Nation’ in the Ghana–Togo Borderlands
- Part I The Colonial Encounter and the (Re)making of Political Communities
- 2 Space and History
- 3 ‘We Are All from Notse’
- 4 Regional and Local Political Belonging
- Part II Legal Citizenship, Indigeneity and the Nation-State
- Part III Cross-Border Voting and Its Impact on Ghana–Togo Relations and Elections
- Annex: List of Interviews
- References
- Index
- African Studies Series
3 - ‘We Are All from Notse’
From the Remnants of Ewe Nationalism to a Transnational Political Community
from Part I - The Colonial Encounter and the (Re)making of Political Communities
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 February 2026
Book contents
- Political Belonging in the Ghana–Togo Borderlands
- Reviews
- African Studies Series
- Political Belonging in the Ghana–Togo Borderlands
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Orthography and Translation
- Abbreviations
- 1 ‘Nation’ in the Ghana–Togo Borderlands
- Part I The Colonial Encounter and the (Re)making of Political Communities
- 2 Space and History
- 3 ‘We Are All from Notse’
- 4 Regional and Local Political Belonging
- Part II Legal Citizenship, Indigeneity and the Nation-State
- Part III Cross-Border Voting and Its Impact on Ghana–Togo Relations and Elections
- Annex: List of Interviews
- References
- Index
- African Studies Series
Summary
The Ewe-speaking region straddling the border between Ghana and Togo has not been envisioned by much of the scholarship as a viable political community capable of forming a nation-state. Yet this interpretation does not account for the continued identity claims arising from this transnational region. By looking more closely at grassroots perceptions of what constitutes a political community, the diagnostic may be different. This chapter considers how the scalar and genealogical principle underpinning the local indigenous political space, the dukɔ , has come to underpin the transnational Ewe-speaking region to form a larger political community. This is notable in the Ewe Newsletters, which aimed to convene and construct a transnational Ewe nation based on mutual recognition and oral tradition but also today across the border in both oral tradition and the performance of festivals.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
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- Political Belonging in the Ghana–Togo BorderlandsCitizenship and the Vote at the Margins of the State, pp. 60 - 81Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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