Sara Berry
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Sara Sweezy Berry (born 1940) is an American scholar of contemporary African political economies, professor of history at
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
http://www.ipc-undp.org/conference/md-poverty/bios/Bio%20-%20Sara.pdf, and co-founder of the Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins.


Biography

Born in Washington, DC, Berry gained a B.A. in history from
Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...
in 1961 and an M.A. from
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
in 1965. She received her PhD in economics at the University of Michigan in 1967 and has taught at
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
,
Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...
,
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
,
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
, and
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
. Berry has published four books: ''Cocoa, Custom, and Socio-Economic Change in Rural Western Nigeria'' (1975, Oxford: Clarendon Press) ''Fathers Work for Their Sons: Accumulation, Mobility and Class Formation in an Extended Yoruba Community'' (1985, University of California Press), ''Chiefs Know Their Boundaries: Essays on Poverty, Power and the Past in Asante'', 1896-1996 (2001, Heinemann), and ''No Condition is Permanent: The Social Dynamics of Agrarian Change in Sub-Saharan Africa'' (1993, University of Wisconsin Press). ''Fathers Work for Their Sons'' won the 1986
Herskovits Prize The ASA Best Book Prize, formerly known as the Herskovits Prize (Melville J. Herskovits Prize), is an annual prize given by the African Studies Association to the best scholarly work (including translations) on Africa published in English in the p ...
for the year's best book on Africa. She has worked as a consultant for the
Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...
, the
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...
, the
US Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...
, the
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
, and the Herskovits Book Awards Committee. She has received fellowships and awards from the Fulbright Senior Scholars Program, the
Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is a US-based, independent, international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines. Established in Manhattan in 1923, it maintains a headqua ...
, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute at
Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...
.


Books

*2001 ''Chiefs know their boundaries: essays on property, power and the past'', Asante, 1896–1996.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. *1993 ''No condition is permanent: the social dynamics of agrarian change in sub-Saharan Afric''a. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. *1985 ''Fathers work for their sons: accumulation, mobility, and class formation in an extended Yoruba family''. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press. *1975 ''Cocoa, custom and socio-economic change in rural western Nigeria''. Oxford: Clarendon.


Fellowships and grants

*2000-2002 Faculty research funding for research on land claims and local governance in Ghana *1999-2000 Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA *1993-94 Fulbright Senior Scholar award for research on the dynamics of land tenure in Nigeria and Ghana. *1992 Social Science Research Council grant for research on land tenure in Nigeria & Ghana *1988 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship *1984-85 Noyes Fellow, Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute, Radcliffe College *1978-79 Grants from Rockefeller Foundation and the National Science Foundation for research on rural-urban linkages and agrarian change in western Nigeria *1969-71 Midwest Universities Consortium grant for research on rural transformation in western Nigeria


Selected articles

*2004 ''Reinventing the local? Privatization, decentralization and the politics of resource management: examples from Africa'', African Study Monographs, 52, 2: 79–101. *2003 ''Debate sobre la historia y el problema de la tierra en Africa'', Revista de Historia international: ISTOR-Africa, IV, 14:69-89. *2002 ''Debating the land question in Africa'', Comparative Studies in Society and History, 44, 4:638-68. *2002 ''The everyday politics of rent-seeking: land allocation on the outskirts of Kumase'', in C. Lund & K. Juul, eds., Negotiating property–processes of vindication of land claims in sub-Saharan Africa, Heinemann. *2002 ''Negotiable property: making claims on land and history in Asante, 1896-1996'', in George Bond & Nigel Gibson, eds., Contested terrains: contemporary Africa in focus. Westview. *1998 ''Unsettled accounts: stool debts, chieftaincy disputes and the question of Asante constitutionalism'', Journal of African History, 39, 1:1-24. *1997 ''Tomatoes, land and hearsay: property and history in Asante in the time of structural adjustment'', World Development, 25, 8:1225-1241. *1995 ''Stable prices, unstable values: some thoughts on monetization and the meaning of transactions in West African economies'', in Jane Guyer, ed. Money matters. Instability, values and social payments in the modern history of West African communities. Heinemann. *1994 ''Resource access and management as historical processes'', in C. Lund & H. Marcussen, eds. Access, control and management of natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa. Occasional Paper 13, International Development Studies, Roskilde University, Denmark. *1993 ''Coping with confusion: African farmers responses to economic instability in the 1970s and 1980s'', in T. Callaghy and J. Ravenhill, eds. Hemmed in: the dilemmas of African development. New York: Columbia University Press. *1993 ''Understanding agricultural policy in Africa: the contributions of Robert Bates'', World Development 21,6. *1993 ''Socio-economic aspects of cassava cultivation and use in Africa: implications for the development of appropriate technology'', Collaborative Study of Cassava in Africa. Working Paper No. 8. Ibadan: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. *1992 ''Hegemony on a shoestring: indirect rule and access to resources in Africa'', Africa 62, 3:327-55. *1989 ''Social institutions and access to resources'', Africa 59, 1:41-55. *1989 Editor, special issue on Access, Control and Use of Resources in Agriculture, Africa 59, 1. *1988 ''Concentration without privatization? Some agrarian consequences of changing patterns of rural land control in Africa'', in R. Downs & S. Reyna, eds. Land and society in contemporary Africa. London and Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. *1988 ''Property rights and rural resource management: the case of tree crops in West Africa'', Cahiers des Sciences Humaines, XXIV, 1:3-17. *1984 ''The food crisis and agrarian change in Africa: a review essay'', African Studies Review, 27, 2:59-112.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Sara 1940 births Living people Social scientists from Washington, D.C. 21st-century American economists Radcliffe College alumni University of Michigan alumni Johns Hopkins University faculty 21st-century American historians American women historians 21st-century American women academics 20th-century American historians American women economists 20th-century American economists 20th-century American women academics ASA Best Book Prize winners