Political Vigilante Groups in Ghana: Violence or Democracy?
Literature on political vigilante groups has centred on the violence and conflict that emanate from their activities. This article approaches political vigilante groups as political actors who engage in political mobilisation and participation and therewith also contribute to nation state building....
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2020-12-01
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Series: | Africa Spectrum |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720970957 |
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doaj-52771d776a6344e886f6e1ae167357fa2021-02-24T01:03:38ZengSAGE PublishingAfrica Spectrum0002-03971868-68692020-12-015510.1177/0002039720970957Political Vigilante Groups in Ghana: Violence or Democracy?Justice Richard Kwabena Owusu Kyei0Lidewyde H. Berckmoes1 Department of Sociology and Social Work, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Faculty of Social Sciences, African Studies Centre, Leiden University, The NetherlandsLiterature on political vigilante groups has centred on the violence and conflict that emanate from their activities. This article approaches political vigilante groups as political actors who engage in political mobilisation and participation and therewith also contribute to nation state building. It explores how such groups participate in Ghana’s democratic governance and asks whether violence is an inevitable characteristic. The article builds on individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with political vigilante group members in Kumasi and Tamale in 2019. Findings show that political vigilante “youth” appeared to refer primarily to the social position attributed to non-elite groups in the political field. Political vigilante groups are multi-faceted in their organisational structures, membership, and activities both during electoral campaigns and during governing periods. While some groups revert to violence occasionally, the study concludes that political vigilante groups, in enabling different voices to be heard, are also contributing to democratic governance.https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720970957 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Justice Richard Kwabena Owusu Kyei Lidewyde H. Berckmoes |
spellingShingle |
Justice Richard Kwabena Owusu Kyei Lidewyde H. Berckmoes Political Vigilante Groups in Ghana: Violence or Democracy? Africa Spectrum |
author_facet |
Justice Richard Kwabena Owusu Kyei Lidewyde H. Berckmoes |
author_sort |
Justice Richard Kwabena Owusu Kyei |
title |
Political Vigilante Groups in Ghana: Violence or Democracy? |
title_short |
Political Vigilante Groups in Ghana: Violence or Democracy? |
title_full |
Political Vigilante Groups in Ghana: Violence or Democracy? |
title_fullStr |
Political Vigilante Groups in Ghana: Violence or Democracy? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Political Vigilante Groups in Ghana: Violence or Democracy? |
title_sort |
political vigilante groups in ghana: violence or democracy? |
publisher |
SAGE Publishing |
series |
Africa Spectrum |
issn |
0002-0397 1868-6869 |
publishDate |
2020-12-01 |
description |
Literature on political vigilante groups has centred on the violence and conflict that emanate from their activities. This article approaches political vigilante groups as political actors who engage in political mobilisation and participation and therewith also contribute to nation state building. It explores how such groups participate in Ghana’s democratic governance and asks whether violence is an inevitable characteristic. The article builds on individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with political vigilante group members in Kumasi and Tamale in 2019. Findings show that political vigilante “youth” appeared to refer primarily to the social position attributed to non-elite groups in the political field. Political vigilante groups are multi-faceted in their organisational structures, membership, and activities both during electoral campaigns and during governing periods. While some groups revert to violence occasionally, the study concludes that political vigilante groups, in enabling different voices to be heard, are also contributing to democratic governance. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720970957 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT justicerichardkwabenaowusukyei politicalvigilantegroupsinghanaviolenceordemocracy AT lidewydehberckmoes politicalvigilantegroupsinghanaviolenceordemocracy |
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