Community vs. Individual Development in Christian Social Practice in Ghana

Abstract

This paper critically explores the development of the individual body space as paramount to the community’s communalism in the pursuit of the practice of diakonia or Christian social practice in Ghana. It argues that the practice of their communalistic values in the Africa community has been overemphasized to the detriment of individual members. Based on empirical data gathered through interviews and observation, the paper regards how the practice of ritual servitudes (otherwise known as Trokosi) betrays the generalized concept of African communalism, Ubuntu, as a philosophy that upholds and promotes the dignity of individual members of a community. Ritual servitude is a practice among some communities of West Africa that evades and undermines the body spaces of innocent women and children. It asserts that, for Ghana as well as Africa to ensure gender equality as sustainable development, it is crucial to revisit and inculcate the value of individuality as part of communalism in all development agendas.

Keywords

• ubuntu
• community development
• communalism
• trokosi
• ritual servitude
• individuality
• space
• ghana