Field Note
Ghana Intro
Ghana’s first president (Kwame Nkrumah) had assasination attempt in 1962. He said Africa must be liberated as a whole and self government > servitude in tranquility.
Independence
- first black African colony -> independent in 1960
- part of waver of independence
- hope was decolonization -> political and econ independence
Issues
- new political problems
- mixture of peoples, cultures, languages, religions due to colonialism
- still stuck in world econ, unable to control their own econ
- Nkrumah was overthrown by military in 1966 and died in 1972
- example of small country wanting independence but inherting shit government and setup cuz Europe regions work for Europe economy and based on European political orgnaization of space
- political activity is just as crucial to culture as language or religion
Main Questions
- How is space politically organized into States and Nations?
- What are the different types of Spatial Organization of State Governments?
- How are Boundaries established and why do disputes occur?
- How do Geopolitics and critical Geopolitics help us understand the world?
- What are Supranational Organizations and the future of the States and Nations?
Class Overview on First Day
State = country p241: nation = state = country, but nation is defined culturally, while state is defined politically p245: multi-state nations, multinational states, stateless nations will definitely be on test, memorize examples for each p246: map will be important p247: essay question p248: map of the world + dominant colonial influences, great connection between England and France and rest of the word. Wallerstein’s World-systems theory = big potential essay topic p251: need to know map of world econ on p251 p252: how states organize governments - centripetal vs … = good essay topic, un p253: devolution = good essay question as well p254: ethnocultural = also good essay question p256: economic devolution = also good essay question p257: whatever = also good essay question p265: supernational whatever = another good essay question