6 - Exploring the Multiplicity of Childhoods and Child-Rearing Practices in a Pluralistic Society and the Implications for Children’s Rights

Summary

Introduction

Having established the historical context of Ghana, especially in relation to the development of dominant children's rights discourses not only in legal and policy discourses, but also within public consciousness, I now want to return my attention to the ideas I had started to develop at the end of Chapter 3 and explore the impact of the country's historical legacy on the plurality of childhood experiences that are identifiable and their implications for children's rights.

Before turning my attention to Ghana, it is important to situate this discussion within a broader African context in order to illuminate the point that Ghana is not unique in relation to this idea of plurality and variability in childhoods and family life more generally. In fact, it is now widely accepted that sub- Saharan Africa is a continent of multiple heritages. Within the region three traditions have been observed as intersecting with each other and together, shaping the beliefs and lifestyles of individuals and communities. These traditions pertain specifically to the respective worldviews of:

• 1. the diverse Indigenous groups that can be located on the continent;

• 2. Islamic religion and culture; and

• 3. Western, primarily Europeanized Christian, traditions.

This state of affairs is a product of a series of developments which are critical to the history of many countries on the continent, most notably: Indigenous cultural norms and values which have been transmitted from generation to generation for thousands of years; Arab incursions on the continent from the early 7th century onwards, which led to mass conversions to Islam in societies across the continent, especially in the North, Sahel, West, East and Horn; evangelization by European missionaries from the 15th century onwards which sought to civilize and convert to a Europeanized form of Christianity, especially through the institution of the school, Indigenous peoples they considered to be primitives living ‘ungodly’ lifestyles; formal colonization of much of the continent, which was accompanied by the introduction of a cash economy and, in turn, led to a huge desire by Indigenous groups for white- collar jobs and as a result, Western academic education; and the more recent intensification of global processes which has led to the circulation of goods, capital, ideas, media and people.