The Legacies of State Formation and the Transformation of Non-State Social Welfare in Africa.

This paper examines the legacies of state formation on the patterns of non-state social welfare provision in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa. The paper cautions scholars about conceptualizing non-state social provision too simply as functionally filling the gaps left by neoliberal state retrenchment. First, Morris MacLean finds that neoliberal globalization is narrowing the informal, social relations of reciprocity among extended family members, friends and village neighbors in these two cases. These informal networks of social support are much less extensive and vibrant, even in rural areas, than is frequently presumed by scholars and policymakers. Second, drawing on Goran Hyden's typology of economy of affection-related institutional forms, the paper reveals how different legacies of state social and economic policies during a continuing economic crisis have transformed the mix of "pooling" versus "clientelist" forms of informal institutions of social support in divergent ways in the two cases. The analysis highlights how state institutions are capable of producing tremendous social change in what are usually considered to be quite powerful and resilient social structures, however, the direction and magnitude of these changes is often indirect and unintended. In the conclusion, Morris MacLean demonstrates the importance of analyzing the interaction between formal state and informal non-state institutions in order to understand politics and social welfare in Africa and elsewhere. Contrary to the familiar image depicted of the "weak" or "failed" African state, Morris MacLean argues that the history of state construction and particular path of economic reform powerfully shapes the extent and quality of non-state social welfare provision. Finally, the article considers the implications of these differences in the informal institutions of reciprocity for the exercise of democratic citizenship in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. The paper combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies and is based on over 18 months of fieldwork in two similar regions of neighboring Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]