Book contents
- Boundaries, Communities and State-Making in West Africa
- African Studies Series
- Boundaries, Communities and State-Making in West Africa
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 Centring the Margins
- Part I From Frontiers to Boundaries
- Part II States and Taxes, Land and Mobility
- Part III Decolonization and Boundary Closure, c.1939–1969
- 8 Bringing the Space Back In
- 9 The Vanishing Horizon of Senegambian Unity
- 10 Forging the Nation, Contesting the Border
- Part IV States, Social Contracts and Respacing from Below, c.1970–2010
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- African Studies Series
8 - Bringing the Space Back In
Decolonization, Development and Territoriality in West Africa
from Part III - Decolonization and Boundary Closure, c.1939–1969
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 June 2019
- Boundaries, Communities and State-Making in West Africa
- African Studies Series
- Boundaries, Communities and State-Making in West Africa
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 Centring the Margins
- Part I From Frontiers to Boundaries
- Part II States and Taxes, Land and Mobility
- Part III Decolonization and Boundary Closure, c.1939–1969
- 8 Bringing the Space Back In
- 9 The Vanishing Horizon of Senegambian Unity
- 10 Forging the Nation, Contesting the Border
- Part IV States, Social Contracts and Respacing from Below, c.1970–2010
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- African Studies Series
Summary
The enduring reputation of Kwame Nkrumah as a pioneer of nationalism rests on two legs: his role in hastening the end of the British empire in West Africa and his vision of a unified African continent unfettered by colonial borders. What is less often recognized is the tension between these agendas. If the Gold Coast was truly to push for an accelerated independence, that made it more or less inevitable that this would incur within the existing borders of the Gold Coast. In principle, the circle could be squared by positing a two-stage process of grasping the offer of independence first and then swiftly embarking on a process of unification. In practice, it was much more difficult to do away with colonial borders once new states had come into existence within their territorial integuments.
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- Boundaries, Communities and State-Making in West AfricaThe Centrality of the Margins, pp. 315 - 332Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019