Mother, Here Is Your Stone

Abstract

Susu is an ancient cooperative system of mobilizing all kinds of resources in Ghana, even though it is primarily used for financial services. The Susu system refers to the deliberate act of people to collectively organize and to come together to pool money. The author remembers his own ancestors, who have for generations belonged to Susus, and it is a tradition embedded into local life. Despite the efforts of extreme forms of capitalism to push for individualized banking through structural adjustments, the Ghanaian people counter neoliberal policies by engaging in these banking coops called Susus. The author has carried out empirical work and interviewed members of the Legon West Susu Association (LEWSA), as well as traders in Tema, Cape Coast, and Accra’s Makola market, to further understand the social dimension of the Susu banks. The findings reveal that the Susu system is subtly working to transform the conventional banking sector by making space for traditional cooperative systems. The Susu in Ghana is one that is built on reciprocity, trust, and community bonding in a post-capitalist world that is operating beyond the contemporary neoliberal capitalist order.