The Basel Women's Mission in the European and the Basel context -- The women involved in Basel Mission encounters on the Gold Coast -- Embodying Christian womanhood : 'African' actors in the Basel Mission -- Christiansborg : acquiring space to propagate Basel femininity -- Akuapem and Akuropon (1) : establishing new spaces -- Akuapem (2) : existing loyalties and new options -- Innovation by women : the case of "six-fingered children" -- Creating a new female space : the Basel Mission girls' boarding schools -- Women's speech in the Basel Mission community and beyond
Summary
Christianity has come to be a religion embraced especially by women and not least in Africa. This book provides one of the as yet rare case studies for the early stages of this development: how African women on the pre- and early colonial Gold Coast (Ghana) encountered Basel Mission Christianity, 1843-1885. Popular interpretations have tended to describe Christianity as either 'empowering' or 'domesticating' African women. Looking at variegated push-and-pull factors and in its focus on the agency of Ghanaian women this detailed analysis moves beyond. It situates the quest for Christian womanho
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 391-408) and index
