The Claude Ake Prize is awarded each year to the best paper on an Africa-related topic by a Rutgers undergraduate student.

Mr. Poucher's paper, "Social Security in Senegal's Informal Sector: The Complexities and Contradictions of Senegal's Attempts to Extend Its Social Benefits System," draws on historical and ethnographic data to analyze the failure of a 1996 government attempt to expand Senegal's social security system to the informal sector. Poucher demonstrates that workers' unwillingness to register voluntarily for these new social benefits stemmed largely from fears that involvement in the program would entail additional tax liabilities. Judges in this year's competition were impressed with the paper's clarity and its critical stance. They also praised the breadth of Poucher's scholarship, noting his use of French language sources and fieldwork in Senegal in preparation for his project.

Claude Ake, a Nigerian political scientist, was a long-time political critic and human rights advocate before his death in 1996.

Mr. Poucher's paper was nominated by Barbara Cooper of the History Department.

For more information on the annual paper prizes, please go to: http://ruafrica.rutgers.edu/students/prize/index.html