ABSTRACT
This chapter continues a dialogue between global penal abolitionism and African intellectual and social history by identifying a tradition of anti-prison thought rooted in Ghanaian geography and history. In Ghana, West Africa, the prison is a colonial relic; its origins lie in European colonial authority and wealth creation. Historical accountings of the Ghanaian prison’s origins and trajectory create a foundation for thinking outside the penal status quo in Ghana and other postcolonial geographies. Using the writings of Ghanaian political prisoners, poets, policy experts, and politicians who have identified the prison as an institution both foreign and violent, this chapter discusses a national Ghanaian tradition of anti-prison thought and considers its relationship to global penal abolitionism.
