For centuries, Africa’s Upper Guinea Coast region has been the site of regional and global interactions, with societies from different parts of the African continent and beyond engaging in economic trade, cultural exchange and various forms of conflict. This book provides a wide-ranging look at how such encounters have continued into the present day, identifying the disruptions and continuities in religion, language, economics and various other social phenomena. These accounts show a region that, while still grappling with the legacies of colonialism and the slave trade, is both shaped by and an important actor within ever-denser global networks, exhibiting consistent transformation and creative adaptation.

“The contributions to this volume cover a great diversity of topics from multiple perspectives. It constitutes a welcome addition to the literature on the Upper Guinea Coast, particularly by taking an anthropological approach to a region that has for the most part been studied historically.” · Philip Jan Havik, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Portugal

“This collection’s list of contributors and interdisciplinary scope are impressive. Gathered here are chapters from historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and political scientists, all of which mesh together well in a volume that will attract the attention of regional specialists and scholars interested in the continent more broadly.” · Walter Hawthorne, Michigan State University

Jacqueline Knörr is a social anthropologist. She is Head of Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Extraordinary Professor at the Martin Luther University in Halle (Saale), Germany.