Table Of ContentNeoliberal Globalisation and
Resistance from Below
As bearers of their own emancipation, the political agency of the subaltern
classes is a vexed question, a time-h onoured one at that. Why do the subalterns
endure injustices without revolting most of the time, but revolt sometimes
against some injustices? The euphoria of ‘globalisation-f rom-below’, this book
argues, skirts responsibility of addressing this question by presuming a ground-
swell of resistance across the world against neoliberal globalisation. In contrast
to this oeuvre, Neoliberal Globalisation and Resistance from Below engages this
question squarely by using the socio- historical approach to explain why the sub-
alterns resist neoliberal globalisation in Bolivia and not in Ghana. The author
urges scholars of critical political economy to pay greater attention to why the
subalterns resist, rather than how they resist, or what the ideal end of their resist-
ance should be. Such refocusing of the research and political lens will yield a
more realistic picture of what is politically possible in the social context of
peripheral capitalism regarding an anti-c apitalist revolution. The author further
argues that this refocusing will cure many of the romantic anti-c apitalist claims
and banal wishful thinking of a socialist revolution in peripheral capitalist
regions such as Latin American, The Middle East and North Africa (MENA),
and Sub- Saharan Africa.
Neoliberal Globalisation and Resistance from Below will be of interest to stu-
dents and scholars of African politics, neoliberalism, globalisation, political
economy and subaltern politics.
Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Commu-
nication, Innovation and Technology, University for Development Studies,
Ghana.
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4 Reinventing Development
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5 The Horn of Africa Since the 1960s
Local and International Politics Intertwined
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Evidence from Cash Transfer Programmes
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7 Africa’s Checkered Democracy
Institutions, Participation and Accountability
Edited by Said Adejumobi
8 Africa Under Neoliberalism
Edited by Nana Poku and Jim Whitman
9 Urban Politics Under Apartheid
Whose Rainbow Nation?
Sandrine Gukelberger
10 The Making of the Constitution of Kenya
A Century of Struggle and Quest for Legitimacy
Charles O. Oyaya and Nana K. Poku
11 Neoliberal Globalisation and Resistance from Below
Why the Subalterns Resist in Bolivia and not in Ghana
Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno
Neoliberal Globalisation and
Resistance from Below
Why the Subalterns Resist in Bolivia and
not in Ghana
Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno
The right of Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
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any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-i n-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n-Publication Data
Names: Ayelazuno, Jasper, author.
Title: Neoliberal globalisation and resistance from below : why the
subalterns resist in Bolivia and not in Ghana / Jasper Ayelazuno.
Other titles: Contemporary African politics series ; 11.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. | Series: Contemporary
African politics series ; 11
Identifiers: LCCN 2018021558| ISBN 9781472441805 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781315597768 (ebook) | ISBN 9781317089032 (mobipocket)
Subjects: LCSH: Neoliberalism. | Ghana–Politics and government. |
Bolivia–Politics and government. | Ghana–Economic conditions. |
Bolivia–Economic conditions. | Government, Resistance to–Ghana. |
Government, Resistance to–Bolivia.
Classification: LCC DT512 .A97 2019 | DDC 966.705–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018021558
ISBN: 978-1-4724-4180-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-59776-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
This book is respectfully dedicated to my father and mother, Ayelazuno
Abem and Ayampoka Abem, who resisted the strong temptation of the
peasantry to use their children as farmhands and rather sent me to school.
Thanks to this critical decision, I am the first in our family to step foot in a
classroom. Glory be to God, they are still alive to see and enjoy the fruits of
their wise decision.
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Foreword x
DAvID B. MOORE
Introduction: uneven resistance in the context of uneven
capitalist development 1
1 Subalterns, injustice, and resistance 26
2 The social-h istorical approach to agency: ‘pessimism of
the intellect and optimism of the will’ 57
3 Why the subalterns resist: the cosmo-m aterialism of the
global anti-n eoliberalism resistance movement 75
4 The rebellious subalterns in Bolivia: socio-h istorical
dynamics of the Bolivian model of anti-n eoliberalism 101
5 Subaltern agency and resistance in the social-h istorical
context of the Gold Coast 135
6 Neoliberalism and resistance in Ghana 164
7 Electoral democracy and subaltern resistance in Ghana 201
8 Conclusion: intellectual and political implications 227
Index 246
Acknowledgements
This book is a drastically revised version of my PhD dissertation, submitted to
York University, Canada, in May 2011 in partial fulfilment of the conditions for
the award of a PhD in Political Science. Thanks are due to all those who sup-
ported me morally, emotionally, intellectually, and financially during the five-
year, agonising, and arduous period of the PhD programme. First of all, I am
very grateful to the Almighty God for giving me good health, the courage and
tenacity needed to pursue a PhD programme to a successful end. As a husband
and father, the successful completion of my programme depended, first and fore-
most, on the succour and love of my wife, Yvonne Ayelazuno, and my children,
Kanperige- wine, Winnebota, Apasapangne, and Awineloya. Yvonne did various
menial jobs in Toronto, at times working two or even three of them in a day, to
pay the bills whilst I focused on the dissertation. I thank her for being such a
rock during this trying period. I give special appreciations to my children for
their understanding and for giving me the peace of mind to research and write
the dissertation.
My appreciations also go to my supervisor, Professor Ananya Mukherjee-
Reed, for providing critical, useful, and timely intellectual advice from the pro-
posal phase of the dissertation to the various drafts, and then to the final draft
from which this book was extracted. Beyond the normal intellectual mentoring,
she was empathetic during the many crises I faced on the way as an international
student in Canada with huge family responsibilities. Professors David McNally
and Obiora Okafor, both members of my PhD committee, also provided
important intellectual guidance. I have learnt a lot from them and wish to express
my sincere appreciation to them for making me a better scholar. I have also
benefitted from the sage academic advice of Professor Stephen Hellman, who
was not in my committee but made time to read and give useful comments on
the methodology chapter of my dissertation; which unfortunately could not make
it to the pages of this book.
I am also indebted to the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
for providing me with much-n eeded funds for my fieldwork in Ghana. My
thanks also go to the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration
(GIMPA) for agreeing to be my institution of affiliation, one of the requirements
of the IDRC Doctoral Research Award. Dr Lawrence Kannae, then the Deputy
Acknowledgements ix
Rector of GIMPA, was my fieldwork supervisor. He provided useful intellectual
advice and generous logistical support for my fieldwork. I am very grateful to
him for all that. Many people helped me with language and research assistance
during my fieldwork in Ghana in 2008; including, Dr Abubakari Abdulai, Dr
Jesse Ovadia, and Dr Maxwell Aziyaaba; Ms Kristin Dypedokk and Ms Joana
Manu; Mr Solomon Atinbire, ASP Solomon Ali, Mr Baba Ayelazuno, Mr Cletus
Aeoh, Lawyer Courage Asabangna, Mr Kwaw Madjitey, Mr Ankrah Reindorf
Twumasi, Mr vincent Lugje, and Mr Lawrence Tia. I am grateful to all of them,
and those I have forgotten to mention, for their invaluable services.
My deepest appreciation and highest recognition go to the people that this
book is about, the subalterns of Bolivia and Ghana, as well as those living both
in both the core and peripheral regions of the capitalist global economy.
However, special thanks go to the subalterns in various remote corners of Ghana
who took time off their toiling and moiling to participate in this research. They
include the kaya yei women in downtown Accra, the male and female hawkers
along the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) road in Accra; the poor peasants
(males and females) in Tuobodom, Adujoah, and Kokuma in the Brong-A hafo
region; in Savelugu and Guabulga in the Northern region; in Bongo, Baare, and
Tenzug in the Upper East region; and the dispossessed peasants in the mining
communities of Dumasi, Teberebe, and Prestea in the Western Region. Their
political views form the core of the last chapter of this book and I am very grate-
ful for their participation and the many important lessons they taught me about
their politics and Ghanaian politics in general, and for the light they shed on
what makes them to behave the way they do politically.
Mr Stanley Awinibono Apinya painstakingly read the whole manuscript of
this book when it was being prepared for final submission to the publisher. He
made sure all the citations and references were properly done and consistent
throughout the book. Thanks Stanley, for being there for me when I needed your
help. God richly bless you for your kindness.
Last, but certainly not the least, are the many scholars I have met and dis-
cussed the ideas and arguments of this book after the completion of my PhD.
Their critical but useful comments, as well as their prodding to get it out, made
me finally revisit my dissertation to crank out, no pun intended, this book. They
include, in no specific order, Prof Gavin Hilson, University of Surrey; Prof
David Moore, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; Professor Amin Alhas-
san, University for Development Studies and the Dean of the Faculty of Agri-
business and Communication Sciences (FACS), where I am presently pursuing
my academic career; Dr Lord Mawuko- Yevugah, Department of Public Manage-
ment & International Relations School of Public Service & Governance, Ghana
Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Paul
Ugor, The Department of English at Illinois State University, USA; and Dr
Michael Ayamga, University for Development Studies. All flaws of the book are
wholly mine.
