The Fire Is Too Hot For Them: Gender and Change in the Krobo Bead Industry
Author:
Amanda Kay Gilvin
Degree Date:
May, 2006
Committee Chairperson:
Salah Hassan
Call Number:
Thesis DT 3.5 2006 G558
Description:
xiv, 179 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm.
Abstract:
In this thesis, I examine issues of gender, labor roles, market access, and aesthetics as they relate to bead production in Krobo communities in southeastern Ghana. Ancestors of many current Krobos settled Klo-wem, a mountain near contemporary Krobo communities, in the fifteenth century. Since that time, the Krobo have developed distinctive cultural practices that include the ritual use of beads in most important ceremonies, such as those for birth, female initiation, marriage, and more. In concert with bead use, rich traditions in bead making and bead selling developed.