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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Out of place? Global citizens in local spaces: a study of the informal settlements in the Korle Lagoon environs in Accra, Ghana |
Author: | Grant, Richard |
Year: | 2006 |
Periodical: | Urban Forum |
Volume: | 17 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 1-24 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Ghana |
Subjects: | informal settlements land conflicts land rights civil society globalization |
External link: | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02681256 |
Abstract: | While squatter settlements were rare in West Africa prior to 1990, they now exist in Accra, Ghana. Since 2001 the debate about one particular squatter settlement in the Korle Lagoon environs - variously known as 'Agbogbloshie/Old Fadama', 'Old Fadama' and/or 'Sodom and Gomorrah' - has reached a fever pitch. After attempts by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) at eviction of the settlements' inhabitants, community leaders requested international help in 2002, and efforts at grassroots globalization commenced. This paper documents the land history of the area and details the strategies of the three main stakeholders: Ghanese government institutions and local authorities; the settlers - who use an NGO-initiated support-based approach - and their support organizations (Centre for Public Interest Law, People's Dialogue on Human Settlements and Ghana Homeless Peoples Federation); and the GaDangme, a local political organization. Next, it concentrates on the local community and its relationships with a community-based organization (CBO), as well as a partner NGO. In examining these relationships, the paper assesses A. Appadurai's (2000 and 2001) notion of 'globalization from below' to illustrate how it is working in Accra from the ground upward. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |