Onions Are My Husband : Survival and Accumulation by West African Market Women

In the most comprehensive analysis to date of the world of open air marketplaces of West Africa, Gracia Clark studies the market women of Kumasi, Ghana, in order to understand the key social forces that generate, maintain, and continually reshape the shifting market dynamics. Probably the largest of its kind in West Africa, the Kumasi Central Market houses women whose positions vary from hawkers of meals and cheap manufactured goods to powerful wholesalers, who control the flow of important staples. Drawing on more than four years of field research, during which she worked alongside several influential market "Queens", Clark explains the economic, political, gender, and ethnic complexities involved in the operation of the marketplace and examines the resourcefulness of the market women in surviving the various hazards they routinely encounter, from coups d'etat to persistent sabotage of their positions from within.

In the most comprehensive analysis to date of the world of open air marketplaces of West Africa, Gracia Clark studies the market women of Kumasi, Ghana, in order to understand the key social forces that generate, maintain, and continually reshape the shifting market dynamics.

Probably the largest of its kind in West Africa, the Kumasi Central Market houses women whose positions vary from hawkers of meals and cheap manufactured goods to powerful wholesalers, who control the flow of important staples. Drawing on more than four years of field research, during which she worked alongside several influential market "Queens", Clark explains the economic, political, gender, and ethnic complexities involved in the operation of the marketplace and examines the resourcefulness of the market women in surviving the various hazards they routinely encounter, from coups d'etat to persistent sabotage of their positions from within.

Booknews

Economic anthropologist Clark focuses on the women in the marketplace in the city of Kumasi, Ghana. She looks at such aspects of their lives and livelihood as getting into the market, the regional web, buying and selling, the control of resources, negotiations, and home and husband. Based on interviews conducted on seven consecutive days in July 1979. Paper edition (unseen), $22.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Frontmatter List of Illustrations (page vii) List of Tables (page ix) Preface (page xi) 1 Stepping into the Market (page 1) 2 The Regional Web (page 34) 3 Persistent Transformation (page 73) 4 Buying and Selling (page 126) 5 Control of Resources (page 172) 6 "We Know Ourselves" (page 216) 7 Queens of Negotiation (page 248) 8 Multiple Identities (page 283) 9 Home and Husband (page 330) 10 The Market under Attack (page 372) 11 Surviving the Peace (page 402) Appendix: Survey Methodology (page 427) References (page 431) Index (page 455) Stepping Into The Market -- The Regional Web -- Persistent Transformation -- Buying And Selling -- Control Of Resources -- We Know Ourselves -- Queens Of Negotiation -- Multiple Identities -- Home And Husband -- The Market Under Attack -- Surviving The Peace. Gracia Clark. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 431-453) And Index. A comprehensive analysis of the world of open air marketplaces of West Africa. Clark studies the market women of Kumasi, Ghana, in order to understand the key social forces that generate, maintain, and continually reshape shifting market dynamics. As travelers to Kumasi, Ghana, reach the heart of the city, they pass or enter the central Kejetia traffic circle and truck parking lot, and the congestion and excitement of Kumasi Central Market swings into view.