Reform from above, reinterpretation from below : state making and institutional change in Ghana
Thesis: Ph. D. in International Development Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115708 |
| _version_ | 1811078383368404992 |
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| author | Brookins, Devanne (Devanne Elizabeth) |
| author2 | Balakrishnan Rajagopal. |
| author_facet | Balakrishnan Rajagopal. Brookins, Devanne (Devanne Elizabeth) |
| author_sort | Brookins, Devanne (Devanne Elizabeth) |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: Ph. D. in International Development Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:58:38Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/115708 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:58:38Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1157082019-04-12T23:14:18Z Reform from above, reinterpretation from below : state making and institutional change in Ghana State making and institutional change in Ghana Brookins, Devanne (Devanne Elizabeth) Balakrishnan Rajagopal. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis: Ph. D. in International Development Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 274-300). The dissertation engages a fundamental question in the social sciences: How do institutions change? The questions that drive this research include: How does institutional change occur, and how do varied forms of social organization within informal institutions influence institutional reforms in the land sector? The dissertation does this by examining land administration reform in Ghana during the period of 2003 -2016. Theoretically, the dissertation employs the literature on institutions and change, critically engaging the role of the state and the role of society in constituting property rights along with the institutions and organizations that support them. Empirically, the study is based on extensive field research to find that the theoretical assumptions regarding informal organizations are inadequate to understand the role of diverse societal actors in institutional change. The dissertation argues that the state, seeking to build coherence, employs land administration reform as a mechanism towards the objective of economic transformation. The reform is based on an integrative approach, whereby the state seeks to incorporate customary authorities into a logic of the state, emphasizing coherence instead of autonomy. However, this integrative approach is flawed as it downplays the heterogeneity of organizations, including their interests and internal characteristics. The findings demonstrate that institutional change is mediated by the strategies and behaviors of informal organizations, requiring categorizations of these actors and their behaviors as a necessary component of any theory of institutional change. Such categorization requires an analysis of relative power economic, political and social - of informal organizations and their ability to not only affect informal institutions, but formal institutions and change. The prominence of the customary sector in Ghana highlights this condition and challenges the relatively low significance accorded to informal institutions in considering institutional change. As such, customary authorities, leverage institutional innovations using various strategies to achieve their goals according to internal characteristics, rather than collective action. The dissertation reveals that institutional reforms in the land sector are triggering a new moment of territorial competition. These reforms, which seek to reconstitute legal frameworks and institutional arrangements, call into question the balance of political and economic power foundational to the state. The findings also suggest that institutional change, in the context of complex state-society relations, instigates simultaneous dynamics of centralization and fragmentation. by Devanne Brookins. Ph. D. in International Development Planning 2018-05-23T16:31:14Z 2018-05-23T16:31:14Z 2018 2018 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115708 1036986240 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 300 pages application/pdf f-gh--- Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Urban Studies and Planning. Brookins, Devanne (Devanne Elizabeth) Reform from above, reinterpretation from below : state making and institutional change in Ghana |
| title | Reform from above, reinterpretation from below : state making and institutional change in Ghana |
| title_full | Reform from above, reinterpretation from below : state making and institutional change in Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Reform from above, reinterpretation from below : state making and institutional change in Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reform from above, reinterpretation from below : state making and institutional change in Ghana |
| title_short | Reform from above, reinterpretation from below : state making and institutional change in Ghana |
| title_sort | reform from above reinterpretation from below state making and institutional change in ghana |
| topic | Urban Studies and Planning. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115708 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brookinsdevannedevanneelizabeth reformfromabovereinterpretationfrombelowstatemakingandinstitutionalchangeinghana AT brookinsdevannedevanneelizabeth statemakingandinstitutionalchangeinghana |