Examines historically how the state role in mediating risk transforms reciprocity and citizenship in similar villages on either side of the Ghana-Cote d'Ivoire border.

Part I. Informal Institutions of Reciprocity in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire: 1. Introduction; 2. The information institutions of reciprocity: a quantitative puzzle and analysis; 3. Local conflicts over the meaning of reciprocity: a qualitative analysis of change; Part II. Legacies of the State Role in Mediating Risk in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire: 4. The legacies of the colonial administrative state in constructing the citizen, family, and community role; 5. The construction and retrenchment of state social service provision and the unintended consequences for reciprocity; 6. The empire of the young: contrasting legacies of state agricultural policy for local capitalism and reciprocity; Part III. Informal Institutions of Reciprocity and the Prospects for Democratic Citizenship: 7. Transformations of the informal institutions of reciprocity and the implications for citizenship; 8. Conclusion.