@article {Prosperetti121, author = {Elisa Prosperetti}, title = {The Ivorian Origins of the Ghana Studies Association}, volume = {21}, number = {1}, pages = {121--129}, year = {2018}, doi = {10.3368/gs.21.1.121}, publisher = {Ghana Studies}, abstract = {This article situates the history of the Ghana Studies Association (GSA) in a regional frame. It argues that political dynamics in neighboring C{\^o}te d{\textquoteright}Ivoire were central to the creation of the GSA{\textquoteright}s predecessor, the Akan Studies Council (ASC). In the 1970s, C{\^o}te d{\textquoteright}Ivoire experienced an upsurge in economic growth that mirrored Ghana{\textquoteright}s success in prior decades. Ivorian intellectuals, buoyed by their country{\textquoteright}s economic {\textquotedblleft}miracle,{\textquotedblright} sought to link Ivorian good fortune to a shared Akan history. However, as C{\^o}te d{\textquoteright}Ivoire{\textquoteright}s prosperity receded, the impulse that had driven a transnational approach to Akan Studies became entangled with the xenophobic discourse of ivoirit{\'e}. The Ghanaization of the ASC in the 1990s reflected the increasing divergence in the two countries{\textquoteright} trajectories, and the consequent reassertion of the nation-state as a key analytical category.}, issn = {1536-5514}, URL = {https://gs.uwpress.org/content/21/1/121}, eprint = {https://gs.uwpress.org/content/21/1/121.full.pdf}, journal = {Ghana Studies} }