The 'Rawlings Revolution' and Rediscovery of the African Diaspora in Ghana (1983-2015)

Abstract

When Jerry Rawlings and his PNDC took power in Ghana for the second time in 1981, he promised nothing short of a revolution. He delivered, but not in a way his most passionate backers anticipated. Despite his radical nationalist rhetoric that often evoked Kwame Nkrumah's image, Rawlings' 'second coming' is widely known for acquiescing to Africa's most comprehensive structural adjustment programmes under the auspices of the IMF and World Bank. What is much less studied is the relationship of these reforms to Ghana's 'rediscovery' of the African Diaspora and its Pan-African political past. This article explores the relationship between neoliberal economic policies and the creation of Pan-African cultural markets aimed at African-Americans used to further the ongoing cause of nation-building in Ghana. This article also reflects on how major global geopolitical shifts played out in a single African state and their impact on how nations increasingly seek to subvert heritage to the logic...