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Notes
I. Quotations in this paragraph are from Chapter 7 of Capital I, section 1, entitled: 'The
Labour Process', p. 290. Our argument is that a study of the labour process - Le. of the
process of material appropriation in peasant farming ('the appropriation by man of
nature') - keeps thesociaJ appropriation of the product, and therefore the social relations
of production, uncovered. In his aim to show that the labour process in its elementary
aspect 'is independent of every form of that (human) existence, or rather is common to
all forms of society in which human beings live' (p. 290), Marx moves on a higher level
of abstraction. He puts it that 'The taste of porridge does not tell us who grew the oats,
and the process (Le. the labour process in its elementary aspects) we have presented does
not reveal the conditions under which it takes place, whether it is happening under the
slaveowner's brutal lash or the anxious eye of the capitalist, etc.'
2. WithEburobuekyir the farmers refer to the period just after (ekyir = the time after) the
harvesting (bu = to cut) of the first maize (= eburow) in August/September. As we shall
see, energetic farmers who have enough land at their disposal will then start a new cycle
of clearing, burning and sowing, ending with the harvest of a second maize crop in
December.
3. In the Mfantse language there is another word to designate the remaining patches offorest,
Le. epow, but this is not a synonym for kwaa. On the contrary, epow refers exclusively to
the area on family land where the ancestors are buried and where their spirits dwell. It
is for this reason that the felling of the forest in such areas is forbidden. Non-Christian
family members may still be buried there.
4. On this see Polly Hill (1978: 223): 'Trees were felled by a special category of expensive
labourer.' We did not find these labourers to be so expensive. While a day of casual labour
was remunerated at C5.00(plus food), these specialists were paid C6.00per day (plus food).
Nowadays many engage the help of the owner of a chain-saw for the purpose.
5. In the Survey of Occupational Differentiation in Rural Areas (SODRA) conducted under
the auspices of the Social Studies Project (UCC) in 15 villages of the Central Region in
1968/69, some farmers were found to engage in charcoal-burning for about 2-3 weeks
every year.
6. The detailed research work which Polly Hill undertook for her study ofFante (Mfantse)
food-farming was done in the villages ofThido and Kwaman located respectively 5.5 and
6.5 miles from Abura-Dunkwa (1978: 223).
7. The expression 'they are making apam' is from pam efuw, Le. to clear the place (lit. the
weeds = efuw) destined for a plantation by gathering the remnants of the burned trees
and brushwood in order to complete their burning. See Christaller (1933: 372).
(f.
8. The distinction between land as an 'object' and as an 'instrument' of labour is made by
Marx in the earlier quoted section ofCh.7, Capital!, pp. 284-85. When taking it up in
order to distinguish two primary types of economy in Maidens, Meal and Money;
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