TY - JOUR
T1 - Akan Religious Ontology and Environmental Sustainability in Ghana
AU - Kwaku Golo, Ben Willie
AU - Majeed, Hasskei Mohammed
AU - Myles, Nancy Oppongwaa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - In this paper, using ethnographic field data from three indigenous Akan communities, we show that Akan religious ontology about the natural world provides a formidable resource and framework for managing the environmentally destructive tendencies of the human being. We further prove that while these ontologies about the natural world emerge from the intense religiosity of the Akan and the metaphysical worldview of the indigenous Akan, they contain strong environmental ethical norms and values worth resourcing for environmental sustainability in Ghana. We, consequently, argue that significant attention ought to be paid to these religious ontologies - beliefs, norms and practices - of the indigenous Akan, as an effective means of achieving environmental sustainability. We, therefore, propose the resourcing and adoption of indigenous religious ontologies on the natural world that have the potential of informing and enhancing environmental policies and initiatives towards environmental sustainability in Ghana.
AB - In this paper, using ethnographic field data from three indigenous Akan communities, we show that Akan religious ontology about the natural world provides a formidable resource and framework for managing the environmentally destructive tendencies of the human being. We further prove that while these ontologies about the natural world emerge from the intense religiosity of the Akan and the metaphysical worldview of the indigenous Akan, they contain strong environmental ethical norms and values worth resourcing for environmental sustainability in Ghana. We, consequently, argue that significant attention ought to be paid to these religious ontologies - beliefs, norms and practices - of the indigenous Akan, as an effective means of achieving environmental sustainability. We, therefore, propose the resourcing and adoption of indigenous religious ontologies on the natural world that have the potential of informing and enhancing environmental policies and initiatives towards environmental sustainability in Ghana.
KW - environmental sustainability
KW - indigenous Akan
KW - natural world
KW - religious environmentalism
KW - religious ontology
KW - stewardship
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85126116936&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/15685357-20221001
DO - 10.1163/15685357-20221001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85126116936
SN - 1363-5247
VL - 27
SP - 86
EP - 114
JO - Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion
JF - Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion
IS - 1-2
ER -