Journal of Social Development in Africa (1995), 10,2,93-102 
Book Reviews 
Research with a view to implementation, D J Gouws, Human Sciences Research 
Council, Pretoria, 1994,231pp, and 
Case studies in research with a view to implementation, D J Gouws (ed), Human 
Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, 1994, 248 pp(HSRC,P Bag X270, Pretoria, 
South Africa 0001, Fax: 27 12 202 2892). 
These two books, directed at people actively involved in research or research 
administration, provide some interesting case studies from a five-year programme 
of investigation into the implementation of research sponsored by the (South 
African) Scientific Advisory Council, and directed by the author under the 
auspices of the Human Sciences Research Council. The programme was launched 
due to mounting concern that the expected benefits from state-supported research 
were not being realised due to poor implementation. 
The investigation consisted of two phases. In the first a group of 58 researchers 
from a wide variety of disciplines and an assortment of state, university, industrial, 
and private research organisations were brought together to consider retrospectively 
the critical factors contributing to the implementation success (or otherwise) 
of research projects they had undertaken. 
In the second phase, another group of 50 researchers - with 55 research topics 
that had already been approved, but which had not yet been started as formal 
projects - participated in a two-day implementation workshop, based on the results 
of the first phase and on general principles of change management such as 
stakeholder analysis and involvement, before proceeding with their research 
projects. In this investigation, research with a view to implementation (R/I) meant: 
"...the assumption of personal responsibility by the researchers for attaining 
their chosen implementation objectives, by appropriate, collaborative 
involvement of the important stakeholders in team action to identify the 
relevant problems and opportunities, formulate the goals and plans, and 
execute the project - all within an action research framework. 
Implementation is (regarded as being) achieved to the extent that the 
chosen objectives are attained, as evidenced by changes in the target 
group's knowledge, skills, perceptions, beliefs and finally: by their actions 
- especially by their results in the stipulated effectiveness areas" (p 188). 
A consequence of this approach is that it also makes good sense to talk about the 
implementation of basic research - as is demonstrated by one of the examples 
described in the first book.
94 Book Reviews 
An important feature of the implementation workshop was that participants 
were divided into small, heterogeneous groups in which they took turns to explain 
their research objectives, rationale and method to six or seven fellow researchers 
from other disciplines, with an opportunity for questions followed by lively 
discussion. 
Participants subsequently reported favourably on this experience, mentioning 
in particular the freshness and originality of the comments from researchers in 
other disciplines. Many significantly revised their research plans. 
The progress of the various research projects was then monitored over the next 
few years, with some visits by programme staff and with such moral support and 
advice as proved feasible. 
After three years participants were asked to submit reports on the course and 
degree of implementation success of their respective research projects. (The progress 
of some projects which were of longer duration was assessed up to six years 
later). 
The final tally was that 40% of the assessed projects were regarded as highly 
successful, 23 % as partially successful, and 36% as unsuccessful. (It is noteworthy 
that 8 of the 55 projects originally registered never got started in any significant 
way). 
Gouws constructed a 17-item implementation effort assessment scale with 
satisfactory inter-rater reliability. Degree of implementation effort - as measured 
by this scale - showed a very strong association with implementation outcome for 
this group of researchers. This would seem to support one of Gouws' main 
contentions in designing and conducting the programme, ie that a major determinant 
of implementation success is the degree of personal responsibility taken for 
it by the researcher. Gouws sets out his approach to research with a view to 
implementation (R/I) in more detail in part II of the first book. There he discusses 
the notion of implementation in contrast to more passive concepts such as diffusion 
and dissemination, the role of mindsets andother individual differences-with their 
implications for R/I team work, the importance of considering and involving the 
stakeholders in innovation, factors that promote or hinder implementation, a 
methodological framework for R/I, and, finally, a critical overview of the R/I 
notion, with a consideration of common objections against the view that researchers 
should seriously concern themselves about implementation. 
This valuable conceptual analysis is supported and supplemented by the case 
studies in the second book, which provide the telling, concrete examples of R/I in 
action. The contributions by Augustyn, van der Spuy, Barnard, and du Plessis, for 
instance, demonstrate the power of a deliberate, proactive implementation R/I 
strategy in four widely different fields: wine-making, the collection and use of 
national medical trauma statistics, the teaching of high school mathematics, and the
Book Reviews 95 
introduction of water hydraulic power into the gold mining industry. An important 
point arising from these case studies is the potential economic significance of early 
implementation. For example, Augustyn's results, by being made available and 
implemented early, probably averted a wine industry loss of R3m due to stuck 
fermentation in 1989 alone (a sum, by the way, five times as large as the Scientific 
Advisory Council's grant for the entire implementation programme). 
Not all the case studies selected represent implementation successes. Some help 
to demonstrate how and why implementation so often goes wrong. 
The approach to research implementation set out in the first book and demonstrated 
by the case studies may be more appropriate in research situations where 
there is little emphasis on intellectual property rights, eg public health, education, 
and even in-house industrial research establishments. While Gouws' approach 
would still be relevant to hi-tech situations where the intellectual property stakes 
are very high, it will need to be complemented by adequate measures to protect 
intellectual ownership - an aspect not mentioned by him. 
Another feature missing from the South African programme is formal early 
involvement of the staff of the receiving organisation (eg, abusiness firm targeted 
as the most promising candidate for utilising the particular research findings) in 
implementation attitudes and skills training - something hinted at in the conclusion 
of the first book. 
We urgently needrepresentative information on the base rateof implementation 
success for different categories of research projects in different settings. The 
author's suspicion that such base rates could be quite low may well be right, in 
which case the claim of a demonstrated strong connection between implementation 
effort (on the part of the researchers) and implementation success warrants serious 
consideration. 
This ambitious programme and its results are a valuable contribution in an 
important and relatively neglected area. In these days of ever-tightening research 
funding and increasing demands for researcher accountability, Gouws' recommendations 
at the end of his first book certainly provide policy makers with food 
for thought He proposes that it will be beneficial to all concerned IF: 
" - Submission of a sound implementation plan and budget were to be 
required as an integral part of every application for research funding. 
— The implementation track record of a research team and organisation 
were to become one of the important criteria for the allocation of research 
funding" (p 206). 
With allowance for their inevitable local colour and biases these two books could 
form a very worthwhile basis for a short course or workshop in research implementation.
96 Book Reviews 
ReviewedbyDrR GABoland, cloDr Catherine dArcangues, Special Programme 
onResearch.DevelopmentandResearchTraininginHumanReproduction.World 
Health Organisation, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. 
The Situation of the Elderly in Botswana: Proceedings From an International 
Workshop, Frank Jarle Bruun, Mbulawa Mugabe & Yolande Coombes (eds), 
Gaborone: National Institute of Development Research and Documentation, 
University of Botswana. Oslo: Centre for Development and the Environment, 
University of Oslo, 1994, ix + 136pp. ISSN 0805-3251. 
The papers in this volume are based on contributions to an international workshop 
on 'The Situation of the Elderly' which was held in Gaborone, Botswana, from 
March 29 to April 1,1993. 
Ageing is a process that has begun to attract increasing scholarly attention. What 
is popularly termed the "greying of the population" constitutes a major problem for 
many societies. Changes in the number and proportion of older people in the total 
population have implications for, inter alia, the social structure, family health care, 
housing and poverty. The multi-disciplinary team which participated in the 
workshop was composed of individuals who were technically well-positioned to 
tackle aspects of this neglected subject. 
The volume is divided into four parts. The papers included in Part I - 
"Information Needs and Policy at the National Level" - introduce readers to the 
subject of ageing and also explore the policy dimension. Alex Kalachi's paper 
serves as a backcloth in which he discusses the process of ageing in a regional and 
global framework. This contribution should help the reader to contextualise the 
more specific papers covered in the rest of the volume. 
Mbulawa Mugabe's paper focuses on the health and social policies related to 
elderly people in Botswana. He argues that the structure and organisation of 
existing health and social services are inadequate to deal with the multiplicity of 
problems associated with ageing. Coombes, Khulumani and Ngome's paper 
presents a profile of the elderly in Botswana. They examine the aged from a 
demographic dimension and highlight related factors. For instance, they show that 
the number of elderly people who are economically active had dropped from 8,5 
percentin 1971 to7,5percentin 1991. Theirfindings also reveal that elderlypeople 
tend to be resident in rural areas, and have low levels of literacy and formal 
education. They point out that the extended family network remains an important 
dimension in the lives of the aged. 
Part 2 of this volume focuses on the cultural and traditional factors affecting the 
elderly at the village level. Ingstad's paper deals with various aspects of the lives 
of elderly people in Mankgodi, a small village in the Kweneng District. She draws
Book Reviews 97 
attention to the changing status of the aged in the wake of "modernisation". Tlou's 
paper examines the reciprocal perception of the elderly and young people regarding 
the process of ageing. She concludes that the elderly in Botswana are still 
viewed as an important resource in child care, socialisation and other cultural 
activities. Bruun's ethnographic investigation of the elderly in rural Botswana is 
undertaken against the prism of the funeral ritual. This case study is the product of 
participant observation "...during the preparation of the burial of an old woman". 
The author provides fascinating insights on how old Batswana use the funeral as 
a device to influence changes in society. 
Part 3 - "Health, Illness Care at the Village Level" - consists of a selection of 
papers which aim to illustrate the relationship between old age and health. Ingstad 
and Bruun concluded that it has become increasingly difficult for absent family 
members to maintain a good standard of living for the elderly people who remain 
in the village. Clausen and Sandberg's contribution seeks to evaluate the health 
status of elderly people in Mankgodi. This impressionistic account, based on 
findings from medical examinations and a questionnaire, revealed that the health 
condition of the elderly was "relatively good". 
Part4 - "Needs and Suggestions for Solutions" - considers selected aspects of 
ageing. In addition, the papers in this section address policy issues. Guillette's 
paper focuses on how the processes of modernisation and social change have 
altered the meaning of old age from "elderhood" to "elder dependency". Ngome's 
paper is concerned with old people's subjective experiences regarding ageing. He 
concludes that: "The elderly do not want to be seen as a burden to society but as 
a potential resource". Raditladi's account chronicles his fascinating experience as 
part of the greying population. His down-to-earth presentation includes useful 
policy recommendations. 
The concluding chapter by the editors provided an overview of the main themes 
of the papers included in the volume. In this respect they deal with the changes in 
the health, social and economic status of elderly people. They also make important 
policy recommendations to ensure that the care and support for the elderly remain 
critical policy issues. 
All in all, this volume represents a welcome effort to create a more informed 
view of problems associated with ageing. It is a valuable addition to the paucity of 
research on theelderly in Botswana. More significantly, it sets the stage for the state 
and other interested parties to address the urgent need for public initiatives to 
enhance the welfare of the aged. 
Reviewed by Louis Molamu, Department of Sociology, University of Botswana, 
P Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana.
98 Book Reviews 
State and Resistance in South Africa, 1939-1965, Yvonne Muthien, Avebury, 
Aldershot, UK, (1994), ISBN: 1-85628-501-4, (1994), 237pp, Price: £40 (h/b). 
State and Resistance in South Africa, 1939-1985 is a major work that seeks to cover 
a gap in the South African historiography by focusing on the often neglected 
subject - the struggles of the black majority. The author posits that the aftermath 
of more than three centuries of racial domination will be felt for a very long time 
after the birth of a new non-racial South Africa. Given this concern, the book 
returns to the brutal transition from segregation to apartheid, in order to illustrate 
the painful continuities of racial oppression as well as to examine the contradictions, 
complexities and nuances between those relations of repression and resistance. 
Such an approach is important for those seeking to unveil the challenges that lie 
ahead for the post-colonial state. A number of questions are raised with specific 
reference to therelationship between racial domination and state formation. For the 
purposes of this book, the author convincingly argues that most analysis has failed 
to place the struggles of the black majority centrally on the agenda of an understanding 
of state formation. Muthien notes that, if capital and the white working 
class can be argued to have shaped state formation, what about the struggles of the 
black working class? He further demonstrates that the struggles of the oppressed 
have all too often been evaluated in terms of their own goals and viewed as having 
failed, leaving the basis of state power intact, and blacks have often been portrayed 
as 'victims' of the inexorable march of capitalism and omnipotent state repression. 
In this study, resistance is firmly placed on the agenda of analysis of the South 
African state, by examining the ways in which black people evade, resist and 
struggle on a daily and organised level against state control over their lives. These 
forms of resistance, it is argued, confound the very ability of the state to achieve 
control in civil society. 
The book's chapters focus on the growth of an African proletariat in Cape Town 
between squatter settlements in the Cape Peninsula, 1939-1948; influx control in 
the Western Cape, 1939-1965; organisational politics in Cape Town; forms of 
protest and resistance, and finally state responses to the urban crisis. 
The book successfully demonstrates that the process of establishing state 
control over movements and lives of black people in South Africa was fraught with 
contradictions and remained incomplete, despite the harshest form of control. Pass 
controls are cited as the most interventionist and pernicious system of control over 
the black majority. Alongside these controls, the apartheid state systematically 
structured and segmented the labour market on racial and gender lines. Muthien 
notes that few studies have examined the segmentation of the labour market and 
the differentiation of conditions of material reproduction along gender lines.
Book Reviews 99 
The study acknowledges a major point which a number of labour historians 
misused in the past, ie the struggles of the oppressed have all too often been 
evaluated in terms of their organisational or campaign goals and therefore viewed 
as having failed, since the basis of state power had apparently been left intact. It 
demonstrates that resistance under highly repressive conditions consists of a 
variety of struggles, confrontations and circumventions that do not always coalesce 
into organisational opposition. Thus for South Africa, different forms of 
struggles evolved, from bread and butter struggles in the 1940s to mass national 
campaigns in the 1950s, to sabotage and mass insurrection in the 1960s, prevailing 
under different material conditions at different historical moments. 
Broad conclusions can be extrapolated from this study and these in my opinion 
will be of paramount importance to many scholars especially those who are 
university-based and focus their attention on the behaviour of the state. First, the 
state is examined as an arena of struggle and as an institution, which is neither 
monopolistic nor possessing a great degree of internal coherence. Most importantly, 
the making and implementation of state policy is often fiercely contested 
and contradictory. Secondly, the study established that in the context of South 
Africa, the state does not only respond and function in the interests of the dominant 
classes.but is forced in an immediate sense to respond to struggles from below. One 
needs to just look at the challenges put forwardby the mass squatting at Crossroads, 
1976 uprising, mass influx of the people into the cities in the 1980s, the 1984-1987 
township regulations which led to the internal reorganisation of the repressive 
apparatus of the state and the unbanning of the ANC and PAC, negotiations, nonracial 
democratic elections and the swearing in of Nelson Mandela as state 
President. 
Reviewed by Thomas Deve, Assistant Editor, SAPES Trust, P 0 Box MP 111, 
Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe. 
Culture in Africa: An Appeal for Pluralism, Edited by Raoul Granqvist, 
Seminar Proceedings No 29, The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies 
(SIAS), Uppsala, Sweden, 1993, ISSN: 028-0018; ISBN: 91-7106-330-7 (h/b). 
Price: SEK 200, $39,95. 
Western discourse on Africa for centuries has been jaundiced and imperial. It need 
no further corroboration that the denigration of Africa's cultural productions 
through misquotations and misrepresentation has been monumental. Given the 
problematic approach to Africa, it is quite compelling and challenging to put up a 
work as great as Culture in Africa: An Appeal for Pluralism, 
It is noted in the introduction of the book that the search for pluralism 
becomes very important when one considers that Afrocentrism or Eurocentrism at
"^tBook Reviews 
Jtage becomes stifling, reductive and reactionary. Whilst this sounds very 
^tersial, it is boldly stated that Afrocentrism expels and silences, whilst Eussm 
seeks to dominate the other. The task of the book therefore is to perform 
"%&r of challenging negotiations with African culture in order for it to open 
%£ome visible, and move from the margin to its own centre and to the centre 
"*a attention. 
^collection of essays by ethnomusicologists, linguists, writers and research- 
*'i various backgrounds explores Zimbabwean church music drama, religinadcasting 
and African culture, the African one party state, languages in 
•%ia, Kenyan popular literature, Islamic architecture and art, Nigerian 
ithe political appropriation of legacies like that of Shaka in South Africa and 
indigenous writings and political struggles. 
{array of essays underscores the need for a broader acceptance of critical 
%t» and a concomitant rejection of incongruent analysis and constellations of 
%ig about Africa. The fear of ideas and theories is a criss-crossing movelast 
the reviewer acknowledges that culture is dynamic as reflected in most 
tuitions in this book, one feels compelled to reiterate that most of the 
miters do not explore in greater depth the impact of tradition in the various 
der scrutiny. For example, one reads statements like "...contemporary 
"•Smrc/i music in Zimbabwe follows indigenous patterns" (p44), but it is also 
" i%n knowledge that most Christian churches in the Africa discouraged the use 
Utional instruments in the church, and stuck talismanically to their hymn 
*»wovided with staff notation and music arrangements to the extent that the 
''utere exactly the same as those of their mother churches outside Africa. The 
*•» then one begs is at what point do the indigenous patterns influence the 
al layout and even the thinking of the Christian church? What I suppose 
*%; is that the African recipients are equipped with capabilities of rewriting 
*fesages in their own terms based on their own cultural contexts, thereby 
*».jg the intended message and possibly counteracting the potential message 
• i e r cultural contexts. As noted by Hilde Arnsten and KnutLundby in their 
St. of the electronic church in Zimbabwe, "...no one feels comfortable with 
: else's junk". 
aiispect which the reader is forced to search for, is the appeal for pluralism 
•various contributions. For example, when one reads Chenjerai Hove's 
«on the One State, One Faith, One Lord, one feels that everybody is being 
ma conform because of a simplistic postulation that "...no family can have 
meters". Thus "one nation, one leader" becomes the dominant image and we 
jjget information on the opposite tendencies or philosophical outlook 
- i n g pluralism.
Book Reviews 101 
This search becomes very complex especially in the chapter on Islamic 
architecture as the opening line of the essay notes. "The umma of Islam does not 
only mean confessing to the same religion, but also sharing the patterns of daily 
life". Whilst this is a correct observation, one would have expected the analysis to 
move beyond the architecture and arts of Islamic society, because this is a 
civilisation and culture developing on other already existing forms of tradition 
which in turn might constitute the dominant aesthetic value with the Islamic 
influence only adopted as an ornamental character. As acknowledged by the 
author. "The attempts ofBravmann, Vansina and Prussin to define the expressions 
of Islamic art in sub-Saharan Africa have brought to light material and created an 
awareness of the problem of the Islamic identity in the arts and architecture in 
black Africa which is an important point ofdeparturefor further research in afield 
which is still in its infancy" (pi43). 
The analysis in this book would have yielded more if it had engaged a wider 
catchment area of African writers beyond Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka for 
the perceptions on culture. For example, Bodil Folke Frederiken's chapter on 
popular writing in Kenya misses the impact of powerful authors like N'gugi wa 
Thiongo and their arguments when it comes to critical discourse on Africa and 
African writing. This book ironically commits the very crime it accused Afrocentrism 
of committing, namely that is expels and silences. It is instructive to note that 
the negotiating entry point to understanding Africa which is postulated as manifold 
ranges from functionalist, semiotic, dramaturgical, Weberian, Durkheimian, 
Marxian, feminist, to post-structuralist. This has to be done through protagonists 
like Wilhelm Dilthey, Antonio Gramsci, Roland Barthes, Erving Goffman, Michael 
Weber, Victor Turner, Paul Willis, Michel Faucault, Joan Francois Lyotard, 
Jurgon Habernaso and Edward Said. This bias by the editor Raoul Granqvist 
destroys a good cause - because what Africa needs is a tolerant post-independence 
discourse that can be successfully cleansed and exorcised from the spectre of 
European domination and the baggage of the past which is embedded in patriarchy 
and tradition. 
Reviewed by Thomas Deve, Assistant Editor, Sapes Trust, Harare, Zimbabwe. 
Housing Risks and Homelessness Among the Urban Elderly, Keigher, S M 
(ed), The Haworth Press, New York, 1991. 
The three research reports reflected in this edition by Dr Keigher make very 
interesting reading. The description and analysis of the nature, extent and causes 
of homelessness among poor elderly urban Americans are quite educative, particularly 
to the non-American scholars and professionals in the fields of social work
102 Book Reviews 
and urban sociology. The editor deserves a commendation for putting together the 
reports in a manner which facilitates a better understanding of the problem of 
homelessness. The four case descriptions in chapter five could evoke strong 
emotions among the the faint-hearted readers. No doubt, the edition is a major 
contribution to the ever-expanding volume of literature on homelessness in urban 
America. 
However, I would like to make some general comments with reference to the 
research methods, and some conclusions and recommendations of the studies. The 
general methodology employed in a 1988 Chicago study by Dr Keigher and the 
Research Team is quite appropriate in the context of the objectives and the 
anticipated problems of data collection. However, the sampling procedures employed, 
if at all, for the staff of the SRO Hotel are not clearly defined. The number 
of managers; desk clerks; maids, bellmen; and janitors interviewed in each of th'e 
27 sample SRO Hotels is not stated. Similarly, it is not clearly stated how the 900 
persons screened from the 19 sites were actually selected in a 1988 Detroit Study 
by Douglas and Hodgkins. This problem raises some doubts in the representativeness 
of the sample, and the reliability and validity of data for the two studies. 
Perhaps this could account for the apparent over-representativeness of the black 
elderly homeless in the sample of the Detroit Study. 
The studies have adequately articulated the economic, political and demographic 
factors contributing to the increasing shortage of affordable housing for 
poor elderly urban Americans. However there are no specific recommendations on 
how the problem could be solved, apart from making passionate appeals to the 
policy makers to re-define the housing policies and programmes. Perhaps this is 
another area for further research. Comparative housing policy studies at the city, 
state and national levels would be most appropriate. Comparative studies of 
America with countries in Europe could provide useful information on the policy 
strategies for housing elderly homeless Americans. 
The two broad areas identified for further research in chapter 9 are essential 
against the backdrop of the inadequacies of the current knowledge base as exposed 
by the studies. Apart from seeking a better understanding of the incidence of 
homelessness and how the formal service agencies are coping with the problem, 
there is a need for future studies to focus more on the informal sources of services 
for the elderly homeless. The Detroit Study revealed that most black elderly 
homeless are willing to stay with relatives and the latter could be willing to provide 
the support. However, it is not clear under what conditions, if any, this support 
mechanism could work better for both the needy and the service providers. 
Early this year, there was a heated debate in the South Korean Parliament and 
among the general public on the need to enact a law which could compel the 
children and close relatives to assist their needy parents. It was morally irreconcilable 
for the well-to-do adult children to abandon elderly parents at the time their 
support was most needed. Perhaps, such a debate is long overdue in the United 
States of America. 
Reviewed by Benson Chisanga, Department of Social Development Studies, 
University of Zambia, P 0 Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia.