Africa Table:What a Marvelous Colony the Gold Coast Was
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What a Marvelous Colony the Gold Coast Was
Osei Boakye, Susan Ford Dorsey Dissertation Field Research Fellow; Ph.D. Candidate, History Department.
Osei Boakye is a PhD candidate in history. His work focuses on debt and development, specifically the economic history of Ghana. He explores the decolonization process, whereby the creation of a state out of an entity that was forged out of a fictive narrative. His research argues that the improper creation of state institutions, e.g. civil service, political branches of the government, and a continuation of blurring the line between personal interest and the public weal were the true causes of the economic crises that engulfed Ghana in the 1970s. This is a personal story for Osei -- his family is from Ghana and have been players in different ways in the narrative he is examining. He received his undergraduate degree at The Florida State University in History. His research was supported by a Center for African Studies Susan Ford Dorsey Dissertation Field Research Fellowship.