Education

• June 1982 B.A. Economics & Sociology; Dip. Ed., University of Cape Coast, Ghana
• January 1989 M.A. Development Planning (Sociology); University of Bielefeld, Germany
• April 1993  PhD. Development Sociology; University of Bielefeld, Germany

Research Interest

Project Title: 

Individual and Collective Memories of Slavery and the Slave Trade: A Contrastive Comparison of Different Communities, Generations and Groupings in Ghana and Brazil

Duration of the project: 2022-2025

Project Description

The empirical interpretative study focuses on a contrastive comparison of collective and individual memories of slavery in different regions, generations and groupings in Ghana and Brazil. We will use an approach that combines methods from the sociology of knowledge and figurational sociology to reconstruct the interrelationships between different memory practices.

While for white Europeans the age of the transcontinental slave trade is so remote that they do not connect it with their own family history, this cannot be said of people in Brazil and in Ghana. Here, in both public and family memories and commemoration practices, this past, with all its many facets, is less remote, and there are many people who know that their ancestors were enslaved, or that they enslaved others. However, within each country, attitudes to the history of the slave trade and slavery in general are very different, and sometimes controversial, as seen in public discourses or places of remembrance, in family dialogues, among members of different groupings, and in different parts of the country.

In carrying out a contrastive comparison of selected regions in Ghana and in Brazil, we will look closely at these differences, and show how they are due to very different historical trajectories and changing social figurations. In Ghana, we will focus on Elmina, Cape Coast, and Accra from where the slave ships departed, and on two regions in the north (Northern and Upper East Region) of the country where people were captured and sold in slave markets. In Brazil, we will work in the coastal region of Salvador de Bahia, where most of the present-day inhabitants are descendants of former slaves, and in the region around Pelotas in Rio Grande do Sul, where most people are of European descent.

We will seek to answer the following questions: What knowledge of the past has been handed down in the communities and families? What kinds of slavery and slave trade (transatlantic, trans-Saharan, intra-African, intra-Brazilian) are thematized by whom, how and in what contexts? We will also pay attention to what is said and what is not said at places of remembrance and commemorative events in these regions, and which people are brought together at such places or events. We intend to conduct family interviews (if possible with several generations of the same family), group discussions, and thematically focused or ethnographic interviews with visitors and guides at places of remembrance.

Principal investigators

Prof. Dr. Maria Pohn-Lauggas (Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Gabriele Rosenthal (Georg-August University Göttingen, Germany)

Cooperation partners:

Prof. Dr. Hermilío Santos (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul Brasil),

Prof. Dr. Steve Tonah (University of Ghana, Legon)

Team members in Germany: Dr. Eva Bahl (Project Coordinator), Dr Lucas Cé Sangalli, Markus Widmann, M.A.

Team members in Brazil: Prof. Dr. Hermílio Santos, Dr. Débora Rinaldi, Marcela Soares

Team members in Ghana: 

1. Prof. Steve Tonah, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra (Team Leader)

Steve Tonah is a Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Ghana, Legon. He studied economics and sociology at the University of Cape Coast, anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, USA and has a PhD in Development Sociology from the University of Bielefeld, Germany. His research areas include Fulbe pastoralism, ethnic and social conflicts in Ghana, migration and return migration to Ghana, and urban life in Accra, Ghana. His current research examines the return migration history and integration of the Afro-Brazilian Tabom of Accra and memories of slavery among the Tabom and the Builsa people of Northern Ghana. His most recently published book is on “Marriage and Family in Contemporary Ghana”. Tonah is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation, Germany.

CV and publications: See https://www.ug.edu.gh/sociology/people/steve-william-tonah

Title of sub-projects:

1. Memories of slavery practices among the current descendants of the Afro-Brazilian Tabom Returnees to Accra
2. Memories of slavery and the slave trade in Builsaland, Northern Ghana

2. Prof. Felix Y. T. Longi, University for Development Studies, Tamale

Felix Tonsuglo Yakubu Longi is a social historian whose research focuses on chieftaincy and ethnic conflicts in Ghana and Slavery and Slave Trade in Northern Ghana. He holds a PhD in African History from University of Ghana. His PhD research interrogated inter-ethnic conflicts between the Mamprusi and Kusasi people in Northern Ghana (between 1902 and 2000). Felix Longi is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of History, University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale, Ghana. He also teaches at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and Consultancy Services (IIRaCS) and the Faculty of Integrated Development Studies (FIDS). He is a recipient of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) for graduate research funding (2010-2012). Since August 2015, he has been the coordinator of the Dagomba-Gonja History Research Project sponsored by Africa Tiger Holdings.

CV and Publications – See 

https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/document/download/980bd1b13f261a9895f4bba717c0caa6.pdf/DR%20FELIX%20%20LONGI%20%20CV.pdf

Title of sub-project:

Babatu: Power, slavery, and the dynamics of the slave trade in Northern Ghana 

3. Dr. Samuel Nana Abokyi, UDS, Tamale

Dr Samuel Nana Abokyi is a Lecturer at the Department of History, University for Development Studies, Tamale. He holds an MPhil and PhD from the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon. He is a social historian whose works have focused on education in the Chereponi District, social and ethnic conflicts in Northern Ghana, the history and culture of the Anufor people and Slavery in Salaga, Northern Ghana. He has recently published an article on the “The Anufor (Chakosi): History of origins and settlement patterns”. 

CV & publications – See Dr. Samuel Nana Abokyi - University for Development Studies

Title of sub-project:

A legacy of slavery in Northern Ghana: An exploration of social memory, material culture, and oral histories in Salaga

Former Project Team Members in Ghana

1. Ruth Kaburi, MA

Ruth Kaburi is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Ghana. She holds a Master’s in International Relations. Her research interests include sexuality, gender, and gender-based violence, global health security, as well as social policy and the welfare state. She was part of the research team in Ghana from June 2022 - October 2022 that worked on the German Research Foundation (DFG) project: “Individual and collective memories of slavery and the slave trade”. Using biographical narratives and interviews she enquired into enduring religious belief systems as manifested through individual and collective memories of the Ga-Tabom, a community of descendants of Afro-Brazilian slave returnees in Ghana. Her current research examines show hypermasculinity is disrupted among young men in challenging contexts. There is limited knowledge on emergent masculinities in the context of adolescence onset of uncategorized chronic illness in boys and young men, and more broadly in disruptive life course events in sub-Saharan African setting. This study seeks to explore the process involved in identity formation among youth experiencing adverse life events with the aim of theory building.

2. Ismael Osei Boampong, MPhil                         

Ismael Osei Boampong holds an MPhil from the Department of Sociology, University of Ghana, Legon. His areas of research interest include migration and return migration of medical doctors in Ghana, and Nigerien migrants in Accra, Ghana. From 2017-2019 he was engaged as a Research Associate in a collaborative research work between the Center for Migration, University of Ghana and the University Sussex, UK on “Migration out of Poverty Project (MOOP III), Research Project Consortium (RPC), Gender and Generation: Understanding the dynamics of migrants in Ghana”. Ismael was part of the research team in Ghana from April 2022 – December 2023. His research work focused on the integration of the Afro-Brazilian Tabom of Accra into Ga society. His general research interests include artisanal mining in Ghana, urban sociology, migration, social theory, political economy and historical sociology. 

3. Sylvester Bright Abedi Akyea, MPhil

Mr. Sylvester B. Abedi Akyea is an upcoming Africanist historian with a background in Sociology.

Mr. Akyea has a passion for research, teaching and an appetite for knowledge. Writing on 

Ghanaian history, his research interests transcend themes including economic, slavery, environmental, and military history. He was part of the research team in Ghana from May 2023 – December 2023. He did archival work on slavery and the involvement of the Afro-Brazilian Tabom of Accra in the slave trade.

4. Patricia Nyamekye, BA

Patricia Nyamekye obtained her BA degree at the Department of Sociology and is currently pursuing a MA degree at the Centre for Social Policy of the University of Ghana, Legon.  Her BA thesis was on “Body Dissatisfaction among Female Students of the University of Ghana: Are Media, Peers and Educational Level Predictors?” Her research interest include gender, social psychology, unemployment, medical sociology and education. Patricia was part of the research team in Ghana from July 2022 – June 2024. Her research work focused on examining the cultural life and the economic activities of the Afro-Brazilian Tabom women of Accra.

Project Funds: German Research Foundation (DFG) PO 2422/3-1; RO 827/23-1)

Publications

(a)       Books and Other Monographs

 1. Tonah, Steve (1993). The Development of Agropastoral Households in Northern Ghana: Policy Analysis, Project Appraisal and Future Perspectives, Verlag fuer Entwicklungspolitik, Saarbrücken, Germany.

2. Tonah, Steve (2001) (Ed.). The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Agriculture and Food Security: Meeting the Challenges of the Year 2000 and Beyond. Regional AIDS Programme for Africa (RAPA), Accra.

3. Tonah, Steve (2006). Fulani in Ghana: Migration History, Integration and Resistance. Yamens Publishers Ltd, Accra.

4. Tonah, Steve (2007) (Ed.). Ethnicity, Conflicts and Consensus in Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra.

5. Tonah Steve (2009) (Ed.). Contemporary Social Problems in Ghana. Yamens Publishers, Accra.

6. Dan Bright Dzorgbo & Steve Tonah (Eds.) (2014). Sociology and Development Issues in Ghana.  Woeli Publishing Services, Accra.

7. Tonah, Steve & Alhassan Sulemana Anamzoya (2016) (Eds.).. Managing Chieftaincy and Ethnic Conflicts in Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra.

8. Tonah, Steve, Mary Boatemaa Setrana and John Arthur (Eds.) (2017). Migration and Development in Africa: Trends, Challenges and Policy Implications. Rowman and Littlefield, Larnham/USA.

9. Tonah, Steve (2022). Pastoral Fulani Livelihood in Contemporary Ghana, Research & Publication Unit, Department of Sociology, University of Ghana, Legon.

10. Tonah, Steve (Ed.) (2023). Marriage and Family in Contemporary Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra

11. Tonah, Steve (Ed.). (2023). Farmer-Herder Relations in Ghana: Studies in Cooperation, Conflict and Exclusion. Yamens Publishers Ltd., Accra.

12. Maria Pohn-Lauggas, Steve Tonah, Arne Worm (Eds.) (2023). Exile/Flight/Persecution: Sociological Perspectives on Processes of Violence. Göttingen Series in Sociological Biographical Research Volume 10, Göttingen University Press, Göttingen, Germany.

(b)  Chapters in Books

 1. Tonah, Steve 2001.  “Integration of HIV/AIDS into Non-Health Sectors: The German Technical Cooperation Approach”. In Tonah, Steve 1999 (edited). The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Agriculture and Food Security: Meeting the Challenges of the Year 2000 and Beyond. GTZ/ RAPA, Accra. Pp. 19-23.

2. Tonah, Steve 2003. “Pastoralists, Farmers and the State in Northern Ghana”. In Frank Columbus (2003). Politics and Economics of Africa Volume 4. Novascience Publishers: New York. Pp.113-130.

3. Tonah, Steve 2003. “Conflicts and Consensus between Migrant Fulani Herdsmen and Mamprusi Farmers in Northern Ghana”. In Franz Kröger & Barbara Meier, Ghana’s North. Peter Lang: Frankfurt. Pp. 79-100.

4. Tonah, Steve 2006. “Some of the Mamprusi are our Friends. Interethnic Relations and the Articulation of Friendship Between the Pastoral Fulbe and the Mamprusi in Northern Ghana”. in M. Guichard & T. Gratz & Y. Diallo, (eds) Friendship, Descent and Alliances in Africa: Anthropological Perspectives (Chapter 7), Berghahn, Oxford. Pp. 105-126.

5. Tonah, Steve 2007. Introduction: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives on Ethnicity, Conflicts and Consensus. in Tonah, Steve (ed) Ethnicity, Conflicts and Consensus in Ghana., Woeli Publishers, Accra. Pp. 3-24.

6. Tonah, Steve & Nuhu Atteh Illiasu 2007. Chieftaincy Disputes and its Socio-cultural Impact in Bortianor/Greater Accra Region of Ghana. in Tonah, Steve (ed) Ethnicity, Conflicts and Consensus in Ghana. Woeli Publishers, Accra. Pp. 149-170.

7. Tonah, Steve 2007. Resolving Chieftaincy Succession Conflicts in Ghana: Lessons from the Wungu Province of Mamprugu/Northern Ghana. in Tonah, Steve (ed) Ethnicity, Conflicts and Consensus in Ghana. Woeli Publishers, Accra. Pp. 171-195.

8. Tonah, Steve 2007. Managing Farmer-Herder Conflicts in the Middle Volta Basin of Ghana Introduction. in Tonah, Steve (ed) Ethnicity, Conflicts and Consensus in Ghana. Woeli Publishers, Accra. Pp. 240-260), (A revised version of this paper has been published as a journal article).

9. K. Attah-Mensah, C. Dadzie, S. S. Kwakye, T. K. Ollenu, & S. Tonah 2007. Social Structure, Systems and Practices. In Ghana Human Development Report 2007. Towards a More Inclusive Society: Chapter Three. UNDP, Accra. Pp. 58-79.

10. Tonah, Steve 2008. Chiefs, Earth Priests, and the State: Irrigation Agriculture, Competing Institutions and the Transformation of Land Tenure Arrangements in Northeastern Ghana. In Ubink, J. M. & Kojo S. Amanor (eds.) Contesting Land and Custom in Ghana. Leiden University Press, Leiden, Pp. 113-130.

11. Tonah, Steve 2008. “Migration, Resource Use Conflicts and Stakeholders in the Middle Volta Basin”. In C. M. Amoah, S. G. K. Adiku & E. O. Owusu (eds.), New Developments on Health, Agricultural Resources and Socio-Economic Activities in the Volta Basin, Ghana, VBRP, Accra, pp. 136-154.

12. Tonah, Steve 2009. The Democratization Process and the Resurgence of Ethnic Politics in Ghana (1992-2006). In G. Rosenthal & A. Bogner (eds) Ethnicity, Belonging and Biography: An Ethnographical and Biographical Perspective. Lit Publishers, Muenster. Pp. 240-260.

13. Tonah, Steve 2009. Introduction: Contemporary Social Problems in Ghana. In Tonah, Steve (ed) Contemporary Social Problems in Ghana. Yamens Publishers, Accra. Pp. 171-195.

14. Tonah, Steve 2009. The Challenge of Ageing in Rural and Urban Ghana. In Tonah, Steve (ed) Contemporary Social Problems in Ghana. Yamens Publishers, Accra. Pp. 171-19.

15. Joana Brukum, Alice Pwamang and Steve Tonah 2009. Widowhood Rites in Ghana: A Study Among the Nchumuru, Kasena, and the Ga. In Tonah, Steve (ed) Contemporary Social Problems in Ghana. Yamens Publishers, Accra. Pp. 171-19.

16. Tonah, Steve 2009. “The Paradox of West African Integration: Experiences, Perceptions and Notions of Integration Among Ghanaians”. In Ninson K. (ed) “Nation-States and the Challenge of Integration in West Africa: The Case of Ghana”. Pp. 95-113.

17. Abdulai Abubakari & Steve Tonah 2009. Indigenous Farmers Versus Migrant Fulani Herdsmen in Central Ghana. In Tonah, Steve (ed) Contemporary Social Problems in Ghana. Yamens Publishers, Accra. Pp. 171-19.

18. Tonah, Steve 2011. “Sedentarization and the Transformation of the Pastoral Fulani Homestead in Northern Ghana. In Ann Cassiman (ed.) Architectures of Belonging. Inhabiting Worlds in Rural West Africa. BAI Publishers, Antwerp. Pp. 133-150.

19. Tonah, Steve 2012. “Fulbe Pastoralists and the Changing Property Relations in Northern Ghana”. in Anatoly Kharzanov & Guenther Schlee, Who Owns the Stock? Multiple Forms of Property in Animals. Berghahn, New York. Pp. 231-246.

20. George Owusu & Steve Tonah 2013. Land Tenure in Ghana. In Dzodzi Tsikata (ed). Ghana Social Development Outlook 2012. ISSER, University of Ghana. Pp. 134-160.

21. Tonah, Steve (2015) The Relationship between Farmers and Fulani Herdsmen in Ghana. In Dan Bright Dzorgbo & Steve Tonah (eds.) Sociology and Development Issues in Ghana. Pp. 222-242.

22. Akosua D., M. Assimeng & S. Tonah (2015). The History and Growth of Sociology in the University of Ghana, Legon. In Dan Bright Dzorgbo & Steve Tonah (eds.) Sociology and Development Issues in Ghana. Woeli Publishers, Accra, Pp. 18-44.

23. Darkwah, A., S. Tonah & M. Assimeng 2014. The Development of Sociology and Anthropology and Future Trends. In S. Agyei Mensah et al. Changing Perspectives in the Social Sciences in Ghana. Springer, Netherlands. Pp. 95-112.

24. Tonah, Steve (2016). Introduction: Managing Chieftaincy and Ethnic Conflicts in Ghana. In Steve Tonah & Alhassan Sulemana Anamzoya (2016). Managing Chieftaincy and Ethnic Conflicts in Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, pp.1-38.

25. Anamzoya, Alhassan, Sulemana & Steve Tonah (2016). Multiple Plasters Don't Heal a Wound: An Assessment of the Management of the Bimbilla Chieftaincy Dispute, Northern Ghana. In Steve Tonah & Alhassan Sulemana Anamzoya (2016). Managing Chieftaincy and Ethnic Conflicts in Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, pp. 139-190.

26.       Tonah Steve (2016). Politics and the Management of Chieftaincy Succession Conflict in Central Accra (2006-2012). In Steve Tonah & Alhassan Sulemana Anamzoya (2016). Managing Chieftaincy and Ethnic Conflicts in Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, pp. 214-233.

27. Tonah Steve and Mary Setrana (2017). Introduction: Migration and Development in Africa: Trends, Challenges and Policy Implication. In Steve Tonah and Mary Setrana. Migration and Development in Africa: Trends, Challenges and Policy Implication. Rowman and Littlefield, Lanharm/USA.
28. Setrana, Mary B., S. Tonah & A. B. Asiedu (2018) Return and Reintegration of Migrants to Ghana – In M. Awumbila, D. Badasu, and J. Teye (eds.) Migration in a Globalizing World. Perspectives from Ghana:. African Books Collective, Oxford, pp. 152-169.
29. Tonah, Steve and Emmanuel Codjoe (2020). Risking it All: Irregular Migration from Ghana through Libya to Europe and Its Impact on the Left-Behind Family Members. In Eva Bahl and Johannes Becker (Eds.). Global Processes of Flight and Migration. Göttingen Series in Sociological Biographical Research Volume 4, Göttingen University Press, Göttingen, Germany, pp. 25-40.
30. Tonah, Steve (2022). Ethnicity, Identity and Citizenship of Recent Migrant Groups in Ghana. In Markus Virgil Hoehne, Echi Christina Gabbert and John R. Eidson (Eds.). Dynamics of Identification and Conflict: Anthropological Encounters. Berghahn Publishers, Oxford, pp. 85-104.
31. Tonah, Steve (2023). Introduction: Intimate Relations, Marriage Patterns and Family Structure in Contemporary Ghana. In Marriage and Family in Contemporary Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, pp 1-28.
32. Tonah Steve & Denise M. Nepveux (2023). Sex. Intimacy and Marriage among Disabled Persons. In Marriage and Family in Contemporary Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, pp. 185-206.
33. Tonah, Steve & Emmanuel Obeng Codjoe (2023). Ghanaian Transnational Family Life: The Joys and the Perils. In Marriage and Family in Contemporary Ghana. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, pp. 326-345.
34. Maria Pohn-Lauggas, Steve Tonah, Arne Worm (2023). Exile/Flight/Persecution. In Maria Pohn-Lauggas, Steve Tonah, Arne Worm (Eds.) (2023). Exile/Flight/Persecution: Sociological Perspectives on Processes of Violence. Göttingen Series in Sociological Biographical Research Volume 10, Göttingen University Press, Göttingen, Germany, pp. 9-20.
35. Steve Tonah (2023). Displaced Persons, Refugees and International Migrants: An Overview of the Situation in Ghana. In Maria Pohn-Lauggas, Steve Tonah, Arne Worm (Eds.) (2023). Exile/Flight/Persecution: Sociological Perspectives on Processes of Violence. Göttingen Series in Sociological Biographical Research Volume 10, Göttingen University Press, Göttingen, Germany, pp. 41-62.
36. Steve Tonah (2023). Farmer-Herder Relations in Ghana: Studies in Cooperation, Conflict and Exclusion. - An Introduction. Yamens Publishers Ltd., Accra. Tonah, Steve (Ed.). (2023). Farmer-Herder Relations in Ghana: Studies in Cooperation, Conflict and Exclusion. Yamens Publishers Ltd., Accra, pp. 1-20.
37. Steve Tonah (2023). Fulani Pastoralism and Rangeland Management Issues in Northern Ghana. In Tonah, Steve (Ed.). (2023). Farmer-Herder Relations in Ghana: Studies in Cooperation, Conflict and Exclusion. Yamens Publishers Ltd., Accra, pp. 21-43.
38. Steve Tonah (2023). Kraalowners, Caretakers, Hired Herdsmen and Cattle Husbandry in the Accra Plains. In Tonah, Steve (Ed.). (2023). Farmer-Herder Relations in Ghana: Studies in Cooperation, Conflict and Exclusion. Yamens Publishers Ltd., Accra, pp. 234-263.

(c).  Articles in Refereed Journals

1. Tonah, Steve 1994. "Agricultural Extension Services and Smallholder Farmers' Indebtedness in Northeastern Ghana", Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. XXIX, 1-2:119-128.

2. Tonah, Steve 1995. "Die Rolle des Handels für die Ernährungssicherung der Ariaal: Das Beispiel der Ortschaft Illaut (Kenia) ", (The Role of Trade in Food Security Among the Ariaal: The Case of Ilaut, Kenya) Zeitschrift für Ethnologie  120 :135-146.

3. Tonah, Steve 2000 “State Policies, Local Prejudices and Cattle Rustling Along the Ghana-Burkina Faso Border”, Africa, Vol.70, 4:551-567.

4. Tonah, Steve 2001 “Degrading the Chiefs: Transforming Public Persons into Private Citizens in Post-Colonial Ghana”. Blätter des Informationszentrum Drittewelt (iz3w) 2001: 225:233.

5.  Tonah, Steve 2002. “Integration und Ausgrenzung der Pastoral-Nomadischen Fulbe in Westafrika: Ein Vergleich der staatlichen Viehpolitik und interethnischen Beziehungen in Ghana und der Elfenbeinküste”, Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Vol. 127: 1-22.

6. Tonah, Steve 2002. “Fulani Pastoralists, Indigenous Farmers and the Contest for Land in Northern Ghana”, Afrika Spectrum 37, 1:43-59.

7. Tonah, Steve 2002. “The Politics of Exclusion: The Expulsion of Fulbe Pastoralists from Ghana in 1999/2000”. Max Planck Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Journal Vol. 44:1-32.

8. Tonah, Steve 2003. “Integration or Exclusion of Fulbe Pastoralists in West Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Interethnic Relations, State and Local Policies in Ghana and Côte D’ivoire”. Journal of Modern African Studies, 41, 1:1-24.

9. Tonah, Steve 2004. “Defying the Nayiri: Traditional Authority, People’s Power and the Politics of Chieftaincy Succession in Mamprugu/Northern Ghana”. Legon Journal of Sociology, 1, 1: 42-58.

10. Essamuah, Margaret  & Tonah, Steve 2004. “Coping with Urban Poverty in Ghana. An Analysis of Household and Individual Livelihood Strategies in Nima/Accra.” Legon Journal of Sociology 1, 2: 42-58.

11. Tonah, Steve 2005. Resolving Chieftaincy Succession Disputes and Communal Conflicts in Ghana: Lessons from Mamprugu/Northern Ghana. Legon Journal of International Affairs Vol. 2, 1: 100-124.

12. Tonah, Steve 2005. “The Unholy Alliance Between Chiefs and Fulani Herdsmen in the Middle Volta Basin”, Ghana Social Science Journal, Vol. 3, 1&2: 91-112.

13.  Tonah, Steve 2005. Chieftaincy Succession Disputes and the Challenge to Traditional Authority in Mamprugu/Northern Ghana. Research Review 21, 1: 45-57.

14. Tonah, Steve 2006. Managing Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Ghana’s Volta Basin. Ibadan Journal of the Social Sciences, Vol. 4, 1: 33-45.

15. Tonah, Steve 2006. Diviners, Malams, God and the Contest for Paramount Chiefship in Mamprugu/Northern Ghana. Anthropos, Vol. 101, 1:1-15.

16. Tonah, Steve 2006. “The Challenge of Fulani Pastoralism in Ghana” Legon Journal of International Affairs Vol. 3, 1: 75-94.

17. Tonah, Steve 2006. “The Presidential Special Initiative on Cassava: A Bane or Blessing to Ghana’s Smallholder Farmers”. Ghana Journal of Development Studies 3, 1: 66-84.

18. Tonah, Steve 2006. “Migration and Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Ghana’s Volta Basin”. Canadian Journal of African Studies 40, 1: 71-85.

19. Tonah, Steve 2007. “Ghanaians Abroad and Their Ties Home: Cultural and Religious Dimensions of Transnational Migration”. COMCAD 25 :1-27.

20. Tonah, Steve 2009 “The Unending Cycle of Education Reforms in Ghana”. Journal of Education Research in Africa (JERA), Vol 10: 45-52.

21. Tonah, Steve 2010. “Competition for Chiefship and the Impoverishment of the Royal Elite in Mamprugu/Northern Ghana”. Universitas Vol.12: 1-24.

22. S. Anamzoya Alhassan & S. Tonah 2010. “If You Don’t Have Money Why Do You Want To Become a Chief?” The Commercialization of the Judicial Processes at the Houses of Chiefs”. Ghana Social Science Journal Vol. 7, 1: 1-13.

23. S. Anamzoya Alhassan & S. Tonah 2012. “Chieftaincy Succession Dispute in Nanun, Northern Ghana. Interrogating the Narratives of the Contestants”. Ghana Journal of Geography Vol. 4, 83-102.

24. Tonah, Steve 2011. “Changing Characteristics and Factors of Chieftaincy Succession and Land Disputes in Ghana”. Chieftaincy Bulletin, Vol. 1, 2: 40-53.

25. Tonah, Steve 2011. “The State, Non-Governmental Organizations and Local Communities in the Provision of Basic Education in West Mamprusi District”. Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 147-178.

26. A. Abubakari & S. Tonah 2011. “Assessing Volunteer Teachers as the “Engine” of Rural Primary Schools in Northern Ghana”. Legon Journal of Sociology Vol 4, 2: 123-145.

27. Tonah, Steve 2012. The Politicization of a Chieftaincy Conflict: The Case of Dagbon, Northern Ghana. Nordic Journal of African Studies 21, 1: 1-20.

28. Mary B. Osei Kyei & Steve Tonah 2014. Return Migrants and the Challenge of Reintegration: The Case of Returnees to Kumasi, Ghana. Irinkerindo: A Journal of African Migration 7, 113-142.

29. Setrana, Mary B. & Steve Tonah 2016. Do Transnational Links Matter After Return? Labour Market Participation Among Ghanaian Return Migrants. Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 52, 4: 549-560.

30. Fidelia Ohemeng & Steve Tonah 2016. 'I want to go gently': How AIDS Patients in Ghana Envisage their Death. Omega-Journal of Death and Dying. DOI:1177/0030222815575010.

(d). Encyclopedia Entries & Conference Proceedings

 1. Tonah, Steve 2006. Ghana - U.S. Relations. In Alexandre Laurien et al. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Perspectives on the United States Vols 1&2. A Nation by Nation Survey. Berkshire Publishers, Massachussets, USA.

2. Tonah, Steve 2010. “Do Non-Governmental Organizations Complement or Undermine the State? Evidence From the Basic Education Sector in Northern Ghana”. In Bierschenck, T. & Mahaman, A. (eds.). Proceedings of the Conference on “States at Work: Public Services and Civil Servants in West Africa: Education and Justice in Benin, Ghana, Mali and Niger”, LASDEL, Niamey/Niger, Dec. 7-9, 2009; pp. 37-55.

(e).  Books Reviewed

 1. Andreas Volz: Traditionelle Anbaustrategien Westafrikanisher Bauernkulturen. Ethnologische Studien Bd. 13. Lit Verlag, Münster 1990, 243 pages, ISBN 3-88660-677-5.

2. Carl Salzman and John G. Galaty (eds.): Nomads in a Changing World. Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples 1990, 470 pages. (in MAN New Series, Vol. 28. No. 3, 628-629).

3. Michael Perry Kweku Okyerefo: The Cultural Crisis of Sub-Saharan Africa as Depicted in the African Writers’ Series. A Sociological Perspective. Peter Lang, Frankfurt/Main 2002, 208 pages, ISBN 3-631-36916-6. (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 1, No. 2: 163-165).

4. Andreas Wimmer, Richard J. Goldstone, Donald L. Horowitz, Ulrike Joras and Conrad Schetter (eds.): Facing Ethnic Conflicts. Toward a New Realism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham 2004, 384 pages, ISBN 0-7425-3585-1. (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 1, No. 2: 165-166). 

5. Ibrahim Mahama: Ethnic Conflicts in Northern Ghana. Cyber Systems, Tamale 2003, 262 pages, ISBN 9988-611-09-9. (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 2, No. 1: 101-104). 

6. Jeffrey Sachs: The End of Poverty. How Can We Make it Happen. Penguin Books, London 2005, 396 pages, ISBN 0-141-01866-6. (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 2, No. 1: 105-108). 

7. Memoirs of Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia. A Life in the Political History of Ghana. Ghana Universities Press, Accra 2004, 279 pages, ISBN 9964-3-0335-1. (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 2, No. 2).

8. Patrick Chabal, Ulf Engel & Anna-Maria Gentili (eds.). Is Violence Inevitable in Africa? Theories of Conflict and Approaches to Conflict Prevention, Brill, Leiden 2005, 245 pages, ISBN 90-04-14450-1. (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 2, No. 2).

9. G. K. Nukunya. Stages in Life: An Autobiography. Ghana Universities Press, Accra 2007, 270 pages. ISBN (in Daily Graphic, September 17, 2007).

10. Jeff D. Grischow, Shaping Tradition. Civil Society, Community and Development in Colonial Northern Ghana, 1899-1957. African Social Studies Series Volume 14. Brill: Leiden and Boston, 2006, 264 pages. ISBN: 978-1-84511-259-2 (in African Affairs, UK).

11. Micheal Amoah, Reconstructing the Nation in Africa. The Politics of Nationalism in Ghana. London: Tauris Academic Studies, 2007. 248 pages. ISBN (in Nations and Nationalism, UK).

12. Irene K. Odotei & Albert K. Awedoba, Chieftaincy in Ghana. Culture, Governance and Development. Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2006, 700 pages ISBN (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 3, No 1).

13. Kwame Boafo-Arthur, Voting for Democracy in Ghana. The 2004 Elections in Perspective. Thematic Studies Vol. 1. Department of Political Science and Freedom Publications, Accra, 296 pages, ISBN: 9988-7716-5-7. (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 3, No 2).

14. Ann Cassiman, Stirring Life. Women’s Paths and Places Among the Kasena of Northern Ghana. Acta Universitais Upsaliensis. Uppsala Studies in Cultural Anthropology 39, Uppsala. (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 1, No. 2: 163-165).

15. Ansa K. Asamoa: Classes and Tribalism in Ghana (Third Edition). Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, 91 pages, ISBN 978-9988-626-21-1. (in Legon Journal of Sociology, Vol. 1, No. 2: 163-165). 

16. T. Akabzaa, A. Asiedu, A. Budu, P. Quartey and S. Akuoni 2010. Migration and Economic Development in Ghana. Technical Paper No. 1, Centre for Migration Studies, Legon/Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, 114 pages (ISBN 978-9988-1-1658). Book launch at Alisa Hotel, Accra, 23rd June 2011.

17. M. Awumbila, O. Alhassan, D. Badasu, T. Antwi-Bosiakoh and E. Dankyi 2010. Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Migration in Ghana. Technical Paper 3, Centre for Migration Studies, Legon/Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, 93 pages (ISBN 978-9988-1-4424-1). Book launch at Alisa Hotel, Accra, 23rd June 2011.

18. T. Manuh, Y. Benneh, Y. Gebe, F. Anebo and J. Agyei 2010. Legal and Institutional Dimensions of Migration in Ghana. Technical Paper No. 4, Centre for Migration Studies, Legon/Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, 90 pages (ISBN 978-9988-1-4422-7). Book launch at Alisa Hotel, Accra, 23rd June 2011.
19. Peter K. Sarpong, Odd Customs. Stereotypes and Prejudices. Sub-Saharan Publishers, Accra, 2012, 84 pages, (ISBN 978-9988-647-47-6). Ghana Social Science Journal
20.  Zeremariam Fre, Knowledge Sovereignty Among African Cattle Herders. University College (UCL) London (UCL) Press, London 2018, 210 pages, ISBN 978-1-78735-313-8.
21. K. N. Bukari, S. B. Kendie, P. Osei-Kufuor & S. Bukari. Towards Sustainable Peace in Ghana. Essays in Memory of Francis Kojo Azuimah. Sub-Saharan Publishers, Accra. 2021, ISBN 978-9988-550-28-8.
22. Franklin Obeng-Odoom, 2022. Global Migration Beyond Limits. Ecology, Economics, and Political Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 302 pages. ISBN 978-0-19-886718-0.

(F).  Technical/Consultancy/Workshop Reports

 1. Akotia, M., Anane K., Amoako-Gyedu G., & Tonah, Steve (Feb. 1994). “Development and Environment: The Role of the Churches. Report of Workshop Aimed at Determining the Future Direction of the Development and Environment Department, Part I”. Workshop Report for the Christian Council of Ghana, Accra. (48 pages)

2. Akotia, M., Anane K., Amoako-Gyedu G., & Tonah, Steve (May 1994). “Development and Environment: The Role of the Churches. Report of Workshop Aimed at Determining the Future Direction of the Development and Environment Department, Part II”. Workshop Report for the Christian Council of Ghana, Accra. (66 pages)

3. Tonah, Steve (March. 1994).  “Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflicts in Ghana”. Survey for the Christian Council of Ghana, Accra. (22 pages)

4. Ntiamoa Mensah, Comfort & Steve Tonah (April 1995). “The Economic Reality and the Family”. Workshop Report for the African Network on Churches Participation in Development. (96 pages)

5. Amoako-Gyedu, G., & Steve Tonah (Feb. 1996). “Good Environment, Healthy Body and Sound Mind – The Role of the Local Council of Churches”. Workshop Report for the Christian Council of Ghana, Accra. (70 pages)

6. Carter, Lois & Steve Tonah (May 1996) “Evaluation of the Konkomba Literacy and Development Programme (KOLADEP)”. Consultancy Report for Christian Aid, UK. (64 pages)

7. Tonah, Steve 1997. Konkomba Literacy and Development Programme (KOLADEP). Three Year Activity Plan (1997-1999). Consultancy Report for Christian Aid, UK. (11 pages).

8. Tonah, Steve (March 1999). “Report of 1st Planning Workshop”, Consultancy Report for the Northern Ghana Office, Christian Council of Ghana, Tamale, (20 pages)

9. Tonah Steve 1999. “Summary Report of the First Planning Workshop”. Workshop Report presented to the Northern Ghana Office, Christian Council of Ghana, 13th-19th March, 1999 (3 pages).

10. Tonah Steve & J. W. K. deGraft-Johnson 1999. “Report of the Second Planning Workshop”. Workshop Report presented to the Northern Ghana Office, Christian Council of Ghana, 25th-27th April, 1999 (26 pages).

11. Tonah Steve (Feb. 1999). “The GTZ/Regional Aids Programme for Africa. Multi-Sectoral AIDS Activities: Where are we?” Discussion Paper for the Regional Aids Programme, GTZ, Accra, (5 pages)

12. Tonah, Steve (April 1999). “Multi-Sectoral Response to HIV/AIDS in West and Central Africa”. Paper for the Regional Aids Programme, GTZ, Accra. (5 pages)

13. Tonah, Steve (April 1999). “Integration of HIV/AIDS into Non-Health Sectors: The GTZ Approach”. Paper for the Regional Aids Programme, GTZ, Accra. (4 pages)

14. Tonah, Steve (Aug. 1999).    “Country Paper for Ghana”. Report prepared for the German Development Service (DED), Accra. (50 pages)

15. Tonah, Steve (Jan. 2000). “Capacity Building for Development Action Association”. Report prepared for the FAO-Ghana, Accra. (26 pages)

16. Tonah, Steve (Feb. 2001). “The Capacity of Small Enterprises for Road Maintenance Projects”. Survey for the GHA/GTZ Project, Accra. (14 pages)

17. Tonah Steve, Charles Adams & Karl Schlosser 2001. Promotion of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Road Maintenance in Ghana, Training Needs Assessment Survey. German Technical Cooperation, Accra.

18. Adams, Charles & Steve Tonah (June 2001). “A Survey of the Association of Road Contractors of Ghana (ASROC) and the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE)”. Survey for the GTZ/GHA Project. Accra. (12 pages)

19. Tonah Steve (Nov. 2001). “GTZ/GHA Project: Report of Workshop on Operational Planning on the Promotion of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Road Maintenance”. Workshop Report for the GTZ, Accra. (44 pages)

20. Tonah, Steve (Feb. 2002). “Programme Plan on STI/HIV/AIDS Prevention and Support for Young People Living with HIV/AIDS”. Report for UNICEF-Ghana, Accra. (40 pages)

21. Tonah, Steve (Feb. 2002). “Planning Workshop on HIV/AIDS Prevention”. Consultancy Report for UNICEF-Ghana, Accra. (18 pages)

22. Tonah Steve (2003). “Public-Private Partnership Approach in Road Maintenance - Ghana”. Report for the GTZ, Accra. (12 pages)

23. Tonah, Steve (Dec. 2005). “Fulani Pastoralism and Rangeland Management Issues in Northern Ghana”. Report for the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), Northern Portfolio Office, Tamale (15 pages)

24. Tonah, Steve 2005. Knowledge is Power: Experts as Strategic Groups (Wissen ist Macht: Experten als strategische Gruppe, von H.D. Evers & S. Gerke). Consultancy paper for the Centre for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany.

25. Steve Tonah & Gabi Waibel (2005). “Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Knowledge and Technology Transfer in the Densu River Basin”. Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Bonn/Germany.

26. Tonah, Steve (April 2009). “Capacity Building Workshop for the German Development Service Partners“. Paper for the German Development Service, Accra, 30th April, 2009.

27. Tonah, Steve, Michael P. K. Okyerefo & James Dzisah (2018). Diocesan Strategic Plan 2018-2028. Catholic Diocese of Ho, Ho.

28.  Tonah, Steve, Michael P. K. Okyerefo & James Dzisah (2022). Diocesan Strategic Plan 2022-2032. Catholic Diocese of Keta-Akatsi, Akatsi.

G. Unpublished Manuscripts

1. Tonah Steve (Forthcoming 2024). Issues in Study Location. In S. A. Jegede (eds.) Research Methods in West Africa.

2. Tonah, Steve (forthcoming 2024). Population Growth, Urban Development and Changing Land Tenure Arrangement in Urban and Peri-Urban Accra. Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon.

3. Tonah, Steve (forthcoming 2024). Pastoral Migration and Security in Ghana.

   Major Research Projects/Grants

 2002 to 2007     Chieftaincy and Governance in Northern Ghana

Detailed ethnographic study of the Mamprusi in the West Mamprusi District, Ghana. Research into chieftaincy and traditional forms of governance in Mamprugu/Northern Ghana. Analysis of the politics of chieftaincy succession in the Wungu, Dagbon and the Nanun Traditional Areas. 

2003 to 2009     Farmer Herder Relations Across Ghana

This study examines the tenuous relationship between (migrant) Fulani pastoral herdsmen and indigenous farmers across Ghana. It analyses the various degrees of integration and exclusion of the Fulani into the communities in which they reside and explain factors accounting for the rising farmer-herder conflicts. It also discusses the future of the pastoral Fulani in Ghana.

2005 to 2006     Water Quality, Schistosomiasis and HIV/AIDS in the Afram Plains of Ghana

This study investigates the prevalence of genital schistosomiasis and HIV/AIDS infection in the Afram River basin. It seeks to understand the socio-economic and cultural context of the prevalence of schistosomiasis through an in-depth community-based investigation. (Grant of 3,000,000 Cedis)

2006 to 2010     States at Work. Public Services and Civil Servants in West Africa: Education and Justice in Benin, Ghana, Mali and Niger.

This project researches into the “real” functioning of public services and the professional practices of civil servants in four West African countries. It concentrates on the education and the justice sectors in the 4 West African countries. This a collaborative research with the University of Mainz, Germany; University of Bamako, Mali; Center for Social Science Research (LASDEL) Niamey, Niger and LASDEL, Parakou, Benin. (Grant of 600,000 Euros)

2007 to 2012     Chieftaincy and Traditional Rule in Ghana

Examines the nature and challenges of traditional rule in Ghana with particular reference to chieftaincy succession and interethnic conflicts.

2007 to 2009     Negotiation Processes between the State, Civil Society Organizations and Communities in the Delivery of (Public) Services

This research work focuses on the negotiation processes between civil society organizations, communities and the state in two sectors. It deals specifically with how communities, households and NGOs are negotiating with the state, state agencies, and private companies in the provision of water and dealing with the impact of mining on rural/urban livelihoods. This is a joint research with the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany. (Grant of 15,000 Euros)

2016 to 2020     Irregular Migration, Flight and Displacement in West Africa

This project examines the nature of irregular migration from West Africa to North Africa and Europe and its impact on the Family left behind. It focuses on two specific areas in West Africa. First, the irregular migration from the Nkoranza Area in Ghana to Libya and Europe and secondly, the Migration of farmers and pastoralists from the Tillaberri Region of Niger to the coastal West African cities, particularly Accra.

2018 to 2019     Narrative of Achievements in African and Afro-European Contexts.

This project focus on examining the various understanding of success and fulfilment among Africans. The focus is on indigenous concepts as opposed to the liberal Western Notion of Achievement and Success which focuses almost exclusively on economic growth and individual productivity.

2022-2025        Individual and Collective Memories of Slavery and the Slave Trade: A Contrastive Comparison of Different Communities, Generations and Groupings in Ghana and Brazil.

The empirical interpretative study focuses on a contrastive comparison of collective and individual memories of slavery in different regions, generations and groupings in Ghana and Brazil. We will use an approach that combines methods from the sociology of knowledge and figurational sociology to reconstruct the interrelationships between different memory practices. (German Research Foundation Project Grant)