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Paper short abstract

I will explore how opposite categories are expressed or overcome in a capital “cosmopolitan” city through musical and dance events shaped by DJs from different countries. To what extent polarisation is a question of the level of analysis, imaginary, or experience?

Paper long abstract

The capital city of Accra in Ghana is often presented as a cosmopolitical or afropolitan, and is well known for its musical and dance events. In the one hand, these spaces of coexistence reinforce opposite categories (African/Occidental, Ghanian/diaspora, French/English…), as it targets a specific audience and imaginary. In the other hand, they do overcome them, as events are open to anyone, and have to meet both expectation (and the sensation of feeling at home) and surprise (the discovering of other imaginaries), experiences and aspirations.

This ethnographical approach of DJs shaping music and dance events in the city will show at which point differences become a polarisation i.e. revealed or lead to tensions or inequalities, and where an accurate description will nuance polarised representations.