Public Lecture: Ghana’s Inland Ocean: The Infrastructuresand Technopoliticsof Volta Lake; Speaker: Professor Stephan F. Miescher

Abstract:

Ghana’s hydroelectric Akosombo Dam created a vast lake extending 250 miles to the north. Although the planners promoted Akosombo as a multi-purpose scheme, lake transport was an afterthought. When the dam was completed in 1965, no decisions had been made of how Ghana would use the lake’s resources, deal with its challenges, and cope with its dangers. State interventions focused on projects like the south-north line and automobile ferries, while leaving most lake crossings, i.e. the transport of goods and people, to private boat operators. This lecture explores the history of water transport on Volta Lake from its planning in the early 1960s to the 2000s and presents a case study of its technopolitics. How did the state use technological interventions in relation to the lake’s infrastructures to pursue political objectives, and how did local entrepreneurs deploy their ingenuity to harness the opportunities and mitigate the challenges of Volta Lake?

Stephan F. Miescher is a Professor of History and former Department Chair at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the United States. Born in Switzerland, he was educated at the University of Basel (MA) and at Northwestern University (PhD). He is a historian of West Africa with a focus on Ghana and has research interests in the history of development, technology, and the environment, in gender and masculinities, and in oral history. He is the author of two monographs and eight edited volumes/special journal issues, and as well as numerous articles and book chapters. With Akosua Adomako Ampofo, he served as co-editor of Ghana Studies. With R. Lane Clark, he completed the documentary film Ghana’s Electric Dreams.

This lecture series is open to the public.

For virtual participation via Zoom, please use the following link:

https://uni-freiburg.zoom-x.de/j/62381267458?pwd=YRTJLy4MtOkeLLb8KM4RnN29bn1sij.1

Meeting-ID: 623 8126 7458
Code: kvXN9diAd