Amanda Kay Gilvin -- Africana Library, Cornell University

Author: Amanda Kay Gilvin

Title: The Fire Is Too Hot For Them: Gender and Change in the Krobo Bead Industry

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.

I conducted research through fieldwork in the vicinity of Odumase-Krobo, Ghana. I used participant and nonparticipant observation, and formal and informal interviewing. The cornerstone of my fieldwork in 2005 was an apprenticeship with a young woman bead maker and entrepreneur. I first analyze the ways that concepts of historicity and authenticity are manipulated to determine the value of Krobo beads in local and international markets. I then argue that agricultural labor patterns created to benefit from the oil palm-based Krobo economy of the nineteenth century continue to influence the negotiation of labor and market access in the contemporary Krobo bead industry. Krobo bead makers and bead sellers employ narratives about gender to legitimize and strengthen their own social and economic positions. The aesthetic qualities of the various types of Krobo beads affect how they are evaluated, trade, and used by different populations.

Krobo bead producers face potential transactional, geographic, and cultural distances between themselves and many of the foreign consumers of their beads. They may choose to maintain these distances, or to employ distance-shortening strategies, some of which are of a performative nature. Some bead makers and bead sellers now actively court tourists as a bead sales strategy, and there exists negotiation between Krobo bead businesspeople and tourists to create a tourist experience that satisfies both parties. This negotiation affects the entire Krobo bead business community, although individuals respond in diverse ways.

With some reservations, I call for further contemplation of potential cooperative efforts among Krobo bead makers and bead sellers, in order for them to strengthen their positions in the global bead market, while still continuing to foster the local market, especially the enthusiasm for the beads within Krobo society.


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Print This Page Thesis Abstract Author: Amanda Kay Gilvin Title: The Fire Is Too Hot For Them: Gender and Change in the Krobo Bead Industry 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. I conducted research through fieldwork in the vicinity of Odumase-Krobo, Ghana. I used participant and nonparticipant observation, and formal and informal interviewing. The cornerstone of my fieldwork in 2005 was an apprenticeship with a young woman bead maker and entrepreneur. I first analyze the ways that concepts of historicity and authenticity are manipulated to determine the value of Krobo beads in local and international markets. I then argue that agricultural labor patterns created to benefit from the oil palm-based Krobo economy of the nineteenth century continue to influence the negotiation of labor and market access in the contemporary Krobo bead industry. Krobo bead makers and bead sellers employ narratives about gender to legitimize and strengthen their own social and economic positions. The aesthetic qualities of the various types of Krobo beads affect how they are evaluated, trade, and used by different populations. Krobo bead producers face potential transactional, geographic, and cultural distances between themselves and many of the foreign consumers of their beads. They may choose to maintain these distances, or to employ distance-shortening strategies, some of which are of a performative nature. Some bead makers and bead sellers now actively court tourists as a bead sales strategy, and there exists negotiation between Krobo bead businesspeople and tourists to create a tourist experience that satisfies both parties. This negotiation affects the entire Krobo bead business community, although individuals respond in diverse ways. With some reservations, I call for further contemplation of potential cooperative efforts among Krobo bead makers and bead sellers, in order for them to strengthen their positions in the global bead market, while still continuing to foster the local market, especially the enthusiasm for the beads within Krobo society.

Thesis Abstract