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Ideological dynamics in Ghana’s foreign policy: exploring the interplay between macro-ideologies and contextual ideas

Emmanuel Siaw Orcid Logo

Journal of Political Ideologies, Volume: 31, Issue: 1, Pages: 331 - 352

Swansea University Author: Emmanuel Siaw Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/13569317.2024.2370976

Abstract

This article contributes to the evolving approaches that demonstrate the adaptability and everydayness of ideologies by exploring how contextual approaches can respond to the nuances of the ideology – foreign policy nexus in the African context and allow for a systematic comparative analysis. Drawin...

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Published in: Journal of Political Ideologies
ISSN: 1356-9317 1469-9613
Published: Informa UK Limited 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66838
first_indexed 2024-06-20T16:50:40Z
last_indexed 2026-05-15T05:23:29Z
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spelling 2026-05-14T15:48:14.4473531 v2 66838 2024-06-20 Ideological dynamics in Ghana’s foreign policy: exploring the interplay between macro-ideologies and contextual ideas fad1eccfad754fd92bacd45f9576521c 0000-0003-4516-3754 Emmanuel Siaw Emmanuel Siaw true false 2024-06-20 SOSS This article contributes to the evolving approaches that demonstrate the adaptability and everydayness of ideologies by exploring how contextual approaches can respond to the nuances of the ideology – foreign policy nexus in the African context and allow for a systematic comparative analysis. Drawing on Jonathan Maynard’s ideology-conflict thesis, Michael Freeden’s ideological morphology, and Marius Ostrowski’s comparative ideological morphology, it challenges the non-ideology thesis in African politics, arguing that the issue lies in the limitation of approaches, not the absence of ideology in foreign policymaking. The article demonstrates this by analyzing Ghana’s economic diplomacy, an area widely seen as non-ideological, across three administrations – Nkrumah, Rawlings and Kufuor. Applying the Ideological Contextualization Framework to the Ghanaian case, I argue that the varieties of Ghanaian nationalism characterized by its historically evolving components partly explain Ghana’s economic diplomacy. While the analysis in this article aims to further enhance the bid to see ideologies as phenomena that are ‘necessary, normal, and [which] facilitate (and reflect) political action’,1 it is a call for further empirical application of contextual frameworks. It also demonstrates the potential of ideology to open analytical spaces for a better understanding of the dynamics of agency and dependency in Africa’s international relations. Journal Article Journal of Political Ideologies 31 1 331 352 Informa UK Limited 1356-9317 1469-9613 1 2 2026 2026-02-01 10.1080/13569317.2024.2370976 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2026-05-14T15:48:14.4473531 2024-06-20T17:49:17.8677244 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations Emmanuel Siaw 0000-0003-4516-3754 1 66838__30777__eef0d40d799e404ebc98e95c4d7f2748.pdf 66838.VoR.pdf 2024-06-27T16:48:36.2339426 Output 973624 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2024 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 258
title Ideological dynamics in Ghana’s foreign policy: exploring the interplay between macro-ideologies and contextual ideas
spellingShingle Ideological dynamics in Ghana’s foreign policy: exploring the interplay between macro-ideologies and contextual ideas
Emmanuel Siaw
title_short Ideological dynamics in Ghana’s foreign policy: exploring the interplay between macro-ideologies and contextual ideas
title_full Ideological dynamics in Ghana’s foreign policy: exploring the interplay between macro-ideologies and contextual ideas
title_fullStr Ideological dynamics in Ghana’s foreign policy: exploring the interplay between macro-ideologies and contextual ideas
title_full_unstemmed Ideological dynamics in Ghana’s foreign policy: exploring the interplay between macro-ideologies and contextual ideas
title_sort Ideological dynamics in Ghana’s foreign policy: exploring the interplay between macro-ideologies and contextual ideas
author_id_str_mv fad1eccfad754fd92bacd45f9576521c
author_id_fullname_str_mv fad1eccfad754fd92bacd45f9576521c_***_Emmanuel Siaw
author Emmanuel Siaw
author2 Emmanuel Siaw
format Journal article
container_title Journal of Political Ideologies
container_volume 31
container_issue 1
container_start_page 331
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 1356-9317
1469-9613
doi_str_mv 10.1080/13569317.2024.2370976
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description This article contributes to the evolving approaches that demonstrate the adaptability and everydayness of ideologies by exploring how contextual approaches can respond to the nuances of the ideology – foreign policy nexus in the African context and allow for a systematic comparative analysis. Drawing on Jonathan Maynard’s ideology-conflict thesis, Michael Freeden’s ideological morphology, and Marius Ostrowski’s comparative ideological morphology, it challenges the non-ideology thesis in African politics, arguing that the issue lies in the limitation of approaches, not the absence of ideology in foreign policymaking. The article demonstrates this by analyzing Ghana’s economic diplomacy, an area widely seen as non-ideological, across three administrations – Nkrumah, Rawlings and Kufuor. Applying the Ideological Contextualization Framework to the Ghanaian case, I argue that the varieties of Ghanaian nationalism characterized by its historically evolving components partly explain Ghana’s economic diplomacy. While the analysis in this article aims to further enhance the bid to see ideologies as phenomena that are ‘necessary, normal, and [which] facilitate (and reflect) political action’,1 it is a call for further empirical application of contextual frameworks. It also demonstrates the potential of ideology to open analytical spaces for a better understanding of the dynamics of agency and dependency in Africa’s international relations.
published_date 2026-02-01T06:07:07Z
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