Pride and Shame in Ghana: Collective Memory and Nationalism among Elite Students

Abstract

Based on an original dataset of university students, this article investigates Ghanaian collective memories of past events that are sources of national pride or shame. On average, young elite Ghanaians express more pride than shame in their national history, and they report shame mostly over actions that caused some physical, material, or symbolic harm. Such actions include not only historic events and the actions of national leaders, but also mundane social practices of average Ghanaians. Respondents also report more "active" than "receptive" shame; that is, they are more ashamed of events or practices that caused harm to others and less ashamed about events in which they were the "victims." We advance the idea of a standard of "reasonableness" that Ghanaians apply in their evaluation of events, behaviors, or circumstances: they apply contemporary standards of morality to past events, but they temper their judgment based on considerations of whether past actions were "reasonable" given the power and material imbalances at that time. Ghanaian students identify strongly with both national and pan-African identities, and they frequently evoke their international image to judge a national event as either honorable or shameful. Ethnicity can be one factor in an individual's judgment of precolonial events, whereas political party affiliation is the stronger predictor of attitudes toward postindependence events.Resume: En se basant sur des archives originales rassemblees par un corps etudiant, cet article enquete sur la memoire collective ghaneenne d'evenements passes African 121 122 African Studies Review qui sont source soit de fierte soit de honte pour la nation. On decouvre que en moyenne, les jeunes Ghaneens expriment plus de fierte que de honte en ce qui concerne leur histoire nationale, et qu'ils eprouvent plus de honte pour les evenements qu'ils ont provoques que pour les evenements dont ils ont ete victimes. Nous soutenons l'idee que les Ghaneens appliquent a leur jugement du passe un standard rationnel caique sur des standards contemporains de moralite, mais que leur evaluation est biaisee par des considerations liees au pouvoir et aux inegalites materielles actuels. Les etudiants Ghaneens s'identifient fortement aux identites nationales et panafricaines, et ils evoquent souvent une image internationale pour juger un evenement national comme honorable ou honteux. L'ethnicite peut etre un facteur dans le jugement individuel d'evenements precoloniaux, tandis que l'affiliation a un parti est le facteur le plus determinant dans 1'evaluation d'evenements ayant eu lieu apres l'independance. Enfin, nous avons decouvert que la jeunesse Ghaneenne ressentait des sentiments de fierte ou de honte non seulement envers des dirigeants nationaux et des evenements historiques, mais egalement envers les comportements du peuple ghaneen lui-meme.

Judging the past: Memory, others, and intergenerational responsibility among the Japanese youth

“…As the underlying image of Japan’s militaristic past is closely related to its wartime nationalism, it is understandable that our informants try to avoid any hints of it in their narratives. In this sense, the Japanese case does not necessarily showcase “emotional intensity” (McDonnell and Fine, 2011: 124) often found around the sense of nation, including national shame and pride, as the Judging the Past framework typically assumes.…”

“…This paper builds upon a series of studies conducted by Barry Schwartz and his colleagues that analyze national shame and pride by referring to socio-cultural and historical contexts in various societies, including the United States, Germany, Korea, and Japan (Fukuoka, 2017; Fukuoka and Schwartz, 2010; Schwartz et al, 2005; Schwartz and Heinrich, 2004; Schwartz and Kim, 2001). By replicating this so-called Judging the Past framework, McDonnell and Fine (2011) investigates pride and shame in national imagining among the youth in Ghana. Most recently, Kasamara et al (2018) used this model to study national events of pride and shame to be observed in memory perceptions among Russian and American youths.…”

“…Most recently, Kasamara et al (2018) used this model to study national events of pride and shame to be observed in memory perceptions among Russian and American youths. As McDonnell and Fine (2011) assert, what Schwartz and others provide is “the central body of work examining the emotive content of culture of memory, particularly focusing on the dual nature of national pride and shame” (p. 141; footnote #2). The study of national shame and pride is important as they pertain to “emotional intensity” (McDonnell and Fine, 2011: 124) around the sense of nation.…”

Pride and shame in collective memory of Russian and American youths

“…The collective memory of younger generations has become the object of a significant and growing body of contemporary research (Achugar, Fernandez, and Morales 2013;Cheskin 2012;Dan, Todd, and Lan 2010;Lee and Man Chan 2013;McDonnell and Fine 2011;Mendelson and Gerber 2006;Schwartz and Heinrich 2004;Schwartz, Kazuya, and Sachiko 2005;Schwartz and Kim 2001;Toplak, Pikalo, and Luksic 2007;Zaromb et al 2014;Zhang and Schwartz 1997). If we tum to these studies, we can find two major questions asked by the researchers: what is remembered across society, and how is it remembered?…”

“Patriotism à la Carte”: Perceived Legitimacy of Collective Guilt and Collective Pride as Motivators for Political Behavior

“…People feel collective pride when they self‐categorize with a group that has an admirable quality or is responsible for admirable behavior (Liu, Lai, Yu, & Chen, ). National history is a potent resource from which to derive collective pride, as has been demonstrated in the United States, Nordic countries, Eastern Europe, Canada, and Ghana, among others (Andrews, McGlynn, & Mycock, ; Evans & Kelley, ; McDonnell & Fine, ); history is often presented in textbooks to induce collective pride (Bromley, ; Foss, ; Nelson, ).…”