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field site regions have produced cocoa for export since the 1930s, yet, these changes are
occurring now at the turn of the 21
st
century and in divergent ways . This paper finds that
the critical factor is not whether or not the regions are integrated into the world economy,
but how. Faced with similar challenges, the state has historically pursued state formation
and capitalist incorporation in much different ways in Côte d’Ivoire than in Ghana. In
particular, the paper shows how the legacies of state social service provision and
agricultural policies combine to shape both the extent and structure of informal social
relations which constitute the informal institutions of the economy of affection.
In Côte d’Ivoire, beginning during French colonial rule and continuing in the
post-colonial period, a more active state sought to replace the role of the extended family
and community by extending the centralized bureaucracy to rural areas and by delivering
social services to individual citizens in nuclear families (Morris MacLean 2002). This
more statist model of liberalism stimulated a more advanced process of individuation in
Côte d’Ivoire than in Ghana, influencing the way Ivoirians relate to the state and to each
other through the economy of affection. Also, because historically, Ivoirians have
received a much higher level and quality of social services than Ghanaians, they have
developed higher expectations of the state. Thus, when the Ivoirian state retrenched in
the 1980s, Ivoirians turned with greater frequency and intensity to their informal social
networks to replace services previously provided by a more provident state. Ironically,
the more statist model of liberalism, which originally attempted to replace the informal
social security system, ended up stimulating a more powerful mobilization of social
exchange. Nevertheless, while this study found that a greater number of Ivoirians gave a
greater amount of help to others, Ivoirians still conceptualized this social support in more
Convention