gratitude.

though it feels far less monumental than perhaps it should, i have done the electronic submission of my thesis, which is a big milestone in calling the thing done… or, more accurately, me degree-ed, regardless of how much more work there is to do.

.

i am sure i have forgotten many people but just in case some people don’t actually get around to checking out the thesis itself — a profound but simple ‘thank you’. here are my acknowledgments:

.

a thesis seems like a lone and lonely process, with only data and tea (or stronger) to keep you company, right up until you realize how many people you have to thank. no matter how i’ve tried to keep tabs, i am sure i have forgotten people – if you know you played a role, please give yourself a pat on the back.

 .

this is an empirical dissertation based almost entirely on primary data, which would not exist without willing respondents. in tamale, this includes many private-sector retailers who gave their time to answer a lot of tiresome questions. these answers, in turn, would not have materialized without the long-standing support of a core survey team, with special thanks to abass adam yidana, damba mohammed majeed, and alidu osman tuunteya. n tuma. in accra, many people not only consented to be interviewed but have been patient guides and kept in touch and helped this thesis over its long trajectory. these include: george amofah, kwabena asante, dennis sena awitty, frank boateng, samuel boateng, alex dodoo, keziah malm, yuniwo nfor, louis nortey, daniel norgbedzie, elianne oei, ellen sam, sylvester segbaya. alex dodoo, and daniel norgbedzie have gone above and beyond. there would literally be no words (or numbers) without you.

.

i would have not been in ghana without the trust and support of günther fink and julia raifman and I would not have survived ghana without the moral, emotional, intellectual, and nutritional support and levity of becky antwi, slawa rokicki, mollie barnathan, liz schultz venable, pace phillips, suvojit chattopadhyay, usamatu salifu, salifu amidu, abubakari bukari, lindsey o’shaughnessy, lolo dessein, aqil esmail, michael polansky, sam polley, emmanuel okyere, and rachel strohm. innovations for poverty action-ghana provided much needed infrastructural support and connections; jeff mosenkis has egged me on from headquarters. nathan blanchet has been a guide on ghana and to this whole process.

 .

this thesis as a completed product would not exist without michael reich. from inspiring the ideas that went in to providing a (mostly) patient guide and forcing me to articulate my own ideas beyond, ahem, “a fucking mess” to something that is hopefully readable and possibly even, with time, enjoyable: thank you. you’ve pulled me back from the brink more than once and words don’t suffice. i know sometimes your papers take up to thirty drafts; this has taken many more and you’ve been there throughout.

.

günther fink, jessica cohen, and barbara heil: thank you for keeping me in line and inspired. günther, your enthusiasm, and barbara (mom #2), your persistence, have made a huge difference.

 .

to the swapportive team of shahira ahmed, corrina moucheraud, pamela scorza, and elif yavuz: thanks for keeping me going on so many levels. corrina moucheraud, in particular, has listened to and read many ideas and drafts that constitute what follows, though with far less brevity than her council. elif, you’ve been there, reminding me that they don’t teach kingdon in europe and that anything i do with it better be good.

 .

to an assortment of men in cambridge — thank you. john quattrochi, who helped me survive a wide variety of the perils of working abroad to early engagement with ideas (“is that what you’re trying to say?”), to getting my defense in place, to making sure the final touches were set. peter rockers, for your early skepticism and patience. jeremy barofsky, for encouragement, even sometimes by example. guy harling, for answering every stupid question i could think of while only occasionally reminding me that there are no stupid questions, only stupid people. zubin shroff, for listening and read-throughs.

 .

victoria fan, livia montana, rifat hasan, and jen manne-goehler have been sounding boards of one sort of another at various times.

 .

to the team at the center for geographic analysis, in particular jeff blossom (near and far!) and sumeeta srinivasan: i would have been lost without you.

 .

jesse bump and ashley fox have constituted a political economy crisis unit and have pulled me together and pushed me forward on more than one occasion. thanks for being key stakeholders.

 .

thank you to an intellectually and emotionally supportive community in delhi, with particular thanks to payal hathi, james pickett, and suvojit chattopadhyay for suffering through chapter drafts. bhuvana anand, shreya ray, sangita vyas, urmy shukla, jessica pickett, diane coffey, dean spears, shagun sabarwal, and markus olapade have all engaged with these ideas and the ideas are better for it. subha ganguly shahi and avi kishore have come in with key moral support.

 .

michael schulman, ian reiley, and liz richardson contributed to this being readable. nikolaos zahariadis and owen barder strengthened ideas. catherine goodman, sarah tougher, melisse murray, prashant yadav, and nora petty have been stand-by and stand-up amfm resources. marcia inhorn and norm daniels have been important mentors and models.

 .

several coffeeshops and restaurants have provided clean, well-lighted places over the years: trident and render in boston; andala and voltage in cambridge; mike’s and swad in tamale; loulou’s beignets in the woodlands; and maison des desserts, coast café, and latitude in delhi. thank you for the tea refills and unhurried surface area. and seventh heaven in rishikesh for an extended stay and support.

 ..

for my family, thanks for understanding this whole ‘abroad’ thing as best as possible and, in particular, to aunt janet for patient engagement with early drafts of the manuscript.

 .

finally, a huge thank you to my parents for absolutely everything from the mundane to the massive, from the decision to travel to details to debates to disasters (real and imagined) to deadlines to drafts-upon-drafts to the defense — even though you almost certainly never wanted know a thing about malaria policy in ghana. tusen takk.

.

chapter I, for the curious about this thing we’ve built (all mistakes my own).