{"product_id":"a-dam-for-africa-akosombo-stories-from-ghana-9780253059956","title":"A Dam for Africa: Akosombo Stories from Ghana","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince its construction in the early 1960s, the hydroelectric Akosombo Dam across the Volta River has exemplified the possibilities and challenges of development in Ghana. Drawing upon a wealth of sources, \u003ci\u003eA Dam for Africa\u003c\/i\u003e investigates contrasting stories about how this dam has transformed a West African nation, while providing a model for other African countries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe massive Akosombo Dam is the keystone of the Volta River Project that includes a large manmade lake 250 miles long, the VALCO aluminum smelter, new cities and towns, a deep-sea harbor, and an electrical grid. On the local level, Akosombo has meant access to electricity for people in urban and industrial areas across southern Ghana. For others, Akosombo inflicted tremendous social and environmental costs. The dam altered the ecology of the Lower Volta, displaced 80,000 people in the Volta Basin, and affected the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eA Dam for Africa\u003c\/i\u003e, Stephan Miescher explores four intersecting narratives: Ghanaian debates and aspirations about modernization in the context of decolonization and Cold War; international efforts of the US aluminum industry to benefit from Akosombo through cheap electricity for their VALCO smelter; local stories of upheaval and devastation in resettlement towns; and a nation-wide quest toward electrification and energy justice during times of economic crises, droughts, and climate change.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eStephan F. Miescher is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is editor (with Luise White and David William Cohen) of \u003ci\u003eAfrican Words, African Voices: Critical Practices in Oral History\u003c\/i\u003e and (with Lisa A. Lindsay) of \u003ci\u003eMen and Masculinities in Modern Africa \u003c\/i\u003eand is author of\u003ci\u003e Making Men in Ghana\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Indiana University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50861720142098,"sku":"9780253059956","price":54.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4da921a2-c6f1-4783-af58-6cbfcd0efcb2.jpg?v=1737603736","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-dam-for-africa-akosombo-stories-from-ghana-9780253059956","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}