Constructing National Unity through Faith: A Study of the persistence of Christianity’s Cultural Position in Ghana

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to examine Christianity’s retained cultural position in Ghana as a possible result of the religion being used as a source of unification and nation-building at independence. Christianity in Ghana was introduced by the European settlers in the 15th century, and is still an important part of Ghanaian society. This in spite of the Pan-African ideology permeating the country since independence in 1957, seeking to get rid of colonial remnants, thus creating an interesting puzzle; Christianity’s retained cultural position in spite of the Pan-African agenda. In order to explain the Ghanaian paradox and to contribute to earlier studies regarding the power of religion in unification and nation-building, this comparative single case study examines if and how Nkrumah, the Pan-African leader of the Ghanaian independence movement, used Christianity as a source of unification and nation-building, and if this could explain Christianity’s enduring cultural position. The study has a process-tracing character to identify observable implications of Nkrumah’s usage of Christianity to unite the people and, through the theory of path dependency, indicators of the position of Christianity in Ghana today as a result of religion being used as a source of unification and nation-building at independence. The results suggest that Nkrumah indeed did use Christianity to unite the people in the building of the nation of Ghana, and that this has had an impact on the cultural position of Christianity in Ghana to this day.