Journal of Social Development in Africa (1997), 12,1,105-112 
Book Reviews 
Decolonization and African Society, Frederick Cooper (19%), Cambridge 
University Press, Cambridge, ISBN: 0-521-56251-1 (h/b), 0-521-56600-2 (p/b), 
677pp inc index, Price: £55 (h/b), £19.95 (p/b). 
This detailed and authoritative volume changes our conceptions of "imperial" and 
"African" history. Frederick Cooper gathers a vast range of archival sources in 
French and English to achieve a truly comparative study of colonial policy towards 
the recruitment, control, and institutionalisation of African labour forces from the 
mid-1930s, when the labour question was first posed, to the late 1950s, when 
decolonisation was well under way. 
Professor Cooper explores colonial conceptions of the African worker, and 
shows how African trade union and political leaders used the new language of 
social change to claim equal wages, equal benefits, and shareof power. This helped 
to persuade European officials that their post-war project of building a "modem" 
Africa within the colonial system was both unaffordable and politically impossible. 
France and Great Britain left the continent, insisting that they had made it 
possible for Africans to organise wage labour and urban life in the image of 
industrial societies, while abdicating to African elites responsibility for the 
consequences of the colonial intervention. They left behind the question of how 
much the new language for discussing social policy corresponded to the lived 
experience of African workers and their families and how much room for 
maneuver Africans in government or in social movements had to reorganise work, 
family, and community in their own ways. 
The book contains a wealth of detail, divided into five parts: Part I "The dangers 
of expansion and the dilemmas of reform" examines the labour question, Part II 
looks at "Imperial fantasies and colonial crises," Part III "The imagining of a 
working class," with Part IV "Devolving power and abdicating responsibility." 
The chapters are well laid out and clearly discussed, each capturing main points 
through introductory and concluding sections. The notes to the chapters are very 
detailed and extensive. This is a major contribution, especially valuable as 
comparative studies of colonial policy between British and French Africa of this 
detail are rare. 
Reviewed by Nigel Hall, Editor ofJSDA.
Book Reviews 
.•sign and Management of Poverty Reduction Programmes and Projects 
lophone Africa, Michael Bamberger, Abdullahi M. Yahie, George Matovu 
996, Economic Development Institute of The World Bank, EDI Learning 
ces Series, World Bank, Washington D C, ISBN.0-8213-2767-4, (p/b), 
' alleviation has become a timely topic in the developing countries in recent 
articularly in the context of structural adjustment programmes (S APs). The 
edited by Bamberger, Yahie and Matovu was published at a time when 
African countries were implementing poverty alleviation programmes. It 
es important issues such as the development of guidelines for improving the 
:ation, design, implementation, and sustainability of poverty reduction 
imes and projects. 
volume under review is based on papers presented at a seminar in Kampala, 
on "the Design and Management of TargetedPoverty Alleviation Projects 
ophone Africa." The seminar was jointly organised by the Economic 
)ment Institute, the Poverty and Social Policy Division of the Africa 
al Department of the World Bank and the Uganda Management Institute, 
n objectives of the planners, poverty programme managers and researchers 
hiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia who 
I were to review the participating countries' experiences with poverty 
n programmes and to develop guidelines for improving the "identificaugn, 
implementation, and sustainability" of national programmes and 
olume, which is a compendium of 13 essays, begins with a lucid 8-page 
v which provides an excellent summary of poverty alleviation strategies in 
id guidelines for the design and management of poverty programmes and 
The essays are grouped into five broad parts that address: (a) approaches 
y alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa; (b) key issues in poverty alleviation; 
ns from project visits; (d) guidelines for the design and management of 
poverty alleviation projects; and (e) recommendations and conclusions, 
•vuma Obidegwu provides a comprehensive and well-written discussion 
mic trends, adjustment and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. He argues that 
a-economic reforms have generated extensive transitional problems (eg, 
and marked socio-spatial inequalities. Abdullahi Yahie's essay on povipproaches 
to poverty alleviation in Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Malawi 
i the effectiveness of the economic development policies and poverty 
nes in the four countries. 
el Bamberger offers a penetrating analysis of the crucial role of strategic, 
al, institutional and operational issues, in the design and management of 
wverty alleviation programmes. In the next chapter, which I found very
Book Reviews 107 
instructive, Bamberger draws on extensive first-hand experience to examine 
poverty alleviation approaches in Latin America and Asia (eg, social funds, 
targeting, credit, etc) and their potential applicability in Africa. 
George Matovu, David Kithakey and Abdullahi Yahie discuss decentralisation 
and its effects on poverty alleviation efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa. Michael 
Bamberger and Apollonia Kerenge examine gender issues in poverty alleviation 
and highlight several "gender-basedforms of exclusion" such as women's limited 
access to shelter, fuel and health services, plus increased exposure to environmental 
problems. After examining the factors that hinder women's participation in antipoverty 
programmes the authors suggest practical ways of making the programmes 
more gender-sensitive. The two authors provide a rich overview of the issues that 
adversely affect African women. 
The role of NGOs in poverty alleviation programmes is examined by Abdou 
Drabo and Abdullahi Yahie. The authors are, however, silent about the existing 
power relations between NGOs that are often resource-rich and the shaky structurally-
adjusting governments in the South. Joseph Okune examines the Programme 
to Alleviate Poverty and Social Costs of Adjustment (PAPSCA) which was 
introduced by the Government of Uganda to alleviate poverty and the social costs 
of adjustment after the adoption of the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) in 
1987. George Matovu and Abdullahi Yahie highlight the lessons learned from 
three project visits undertaken during the seminar to an urban renewal project in 
Kampala; the Rakai AIDS orphans project; and the Luwero war widows project. 
Though interesting, the essay however seems out of place in the volume and should 
not have been included. Abdullahi Yahie focuses on adapting the project cycle to 
the special characteristics of poverty alleviation projects. 
The essay by Abdullahi Yahie on "Improving the Selection and Design of 
Poverty Alleviation Projects" takes the reader through practical ways of improving 
anti-poverty projects. The penultimate chapter by Abdullahi Yahie provides useful 
guidelines on how to improve the implementation and sustainability of poverty 
alleviation projects. In the final chapter Michael Bamberger and Abdullahi Yahie 
provide several practical recommendations and conclusions. A few of the more 
interesting include recommendations on improving the identification, selection, 
design, implementation and sustainability of poverty alleviation projects. 
Although the editors have produced a readable volume, some of the common 
problems of an edited volume are evident. For example, the essays vary considerably 
in their thoroughness, analytic depth and linguistic style. Nevertheless, this 
volume is an important addition to the burgeoning literature on poverty and is a 
valuable reference source for practitioners, policy-makers, development agencies, 
and researchers. 
Reviewed by Dr D S Tevera, Chairman, Department of Geography, University of 
Zimbabwe.
108 Book Reviews 
How to Choose a UN Chief - and how not to, Erskine Childers & Brian Urquhart 
(1996), Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Uppsala, ISSN: 0345-2328, (p/b), Price: 
N/K. 
The problem of "haphazard selection" of the leaders of the United Nations, 
including the Secretary General, "will not go away through neglect", say UN 
veterans Sir Brian Urquhart and Erskine Childers in a "fresh appraisal" of the 
problem they first addressed in 1990 in A World in Need of Leadership: Tomorrow's 
United Nations. The British and Irish authors point out that the process to 
date is "far less searching or systematic than any small university's procedures for 
choosing a new president." The study is based on the assumption that the member 
governments really do wish to find the best possible person for the job of Secretary- 
General. 
Calling for "a personality both authoritative and charismatic" as leader of the 
UN system, they make new and detailed proposals for governments to choose the 
UN Secretary-General more creatively, more systematically and more democratically. 
They propose that the General Assembly should adopt a comprehensive new 
policy including a single seven-year term to free the incumbent from reelection 
stresses and pressures. This is especially relevant given the recent furore at the UN 
over the reelection for a second term of Boutros Boutros Ghali and his forced 
departure following a veto by the United States. 
Governments should search for the best possible person rather than waiting for 
names to surface from what the authors call "quite literally an 'old-boy' network," 
which at the end merely finds "a reasonably acceptable candidate who could get 
past five potential vetoes." The authors urge the Permanent Members (Britain, 
China, France, Russia and the USA) to relinquish their claimed right of veto over 
the nomination, saying "thefirst to do so would be acclaimed by the world." They 
suggest that the liftingof the veto might be balanced by re-considering the tradition 
that no national of a permanent member of the Security Council can be a candidate 
for the post of Secretary General. 
The study describes a positive search beginning with a public call for nominations, 
with a mid-point when a short list of between 5 and 10 selected names would 
be published by the Security Council. After 30 days for comment or additional 
suggestions from governments, parliamentarians, civic groups and media, the 
Security Council would resume the selection process. The candidates on a refined 
short list should then be interviewed by the Security Council before it sends a name 
to the General Assembly. 
Urquhart and Childers believe that uncertainty as to how to find the best person 
for what the first Secretary-General, Trygve Lie, called "the most impossible job 
on this earth" stems partly from not distinguishing between qualities and qualifi-
Book Reviews 109 
cations. They list essential qualities for the post, including "stature, integrity and 
moral courage...maturity of character and absence of excessive ego" and "executive 
ability and ability to choose the best deputies" and to "share the limelight." 
The search they recommend should be for such qualities, which should also 
include "diplomatic skills andaworldview," but with higher emphasis on "ability 
to communicate ideas and inspire people in the world at large." 
Team leadership both in the UN and among its agency heads should be given 
greater attention. The authors argue that since no single human being can be expert 
in every field the UN chief has to deal with, far more attention must be paid to 
equipping him or her with a small team of Deputy Secretaries-General of the 
highest competence in the major fields of peace, economics, humanitarian affairs 
and management. 
Urquhart and Childers say the fact that no woman has to date even been a 
candidate for Secretary General is "grotesque and profoundly damaging," and that 
it would be "very healthy for the international community" if its next Secretary- 
General were a woman. 
In a second chapter, on "A System in Need of Leadership," the study analyses 
elections and appointments in the UN's specialised agencies and funds. The 
authors point out that the calendar of elections to head the agencies at present has 
no relation with that of appointment of the Secretary-General. Unless all top-level 
appointments are re-synchronised, the UN system will always be deprived of a 
well-formed executive cabinet. 
This is the fifth in a series of studies by the two former UN civil servants that 
have been sponsored by the Ford and Dag HammarskjOld Foundations. The book 
contains detailed statistics on the history of leadership in the UN system, including 
data that "thoroughly refute the widespread canard that 'the UN system is 
dominated by the Third World majority'. " Nationals of Western countries have 
held 70 per cent of all leadership positions in the UN system since 1946; in 1996 
they still hold 62 per cent of all posts. 
Sir Brian Urquhart, formerly Scholar-in-Residence at the Ford Foundation, was 
one of the first UN civil servants, retiring in 1986 as Under Secretary-General for 
Special Political Affairs after 41 years. Erskine Childers, currently Secretary- 
General of the World Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA), retired in 1989 
as Senior Adviser to the UN Director-General for Development and International 
Economic Affairs after 22 years in the UN system. 
The study is published by the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, established in 
1962 at Uppsala, Sweden, in memory of the second Secretary-General. It is a very 
interesting and well-researched book which is well worth reading for anyone with 
an interest in how the United Nations system operates. 
Reviewed by Nigel Hall, Editor ofJSDA.
110 Book Reviews 
The Political Economy of Information on Development, Democracy & Security 
in Southern Africa, Maurice Lundu (ed), SAPES Books, Harare, 1996, 
ISBN: 1-77905-43-7,179 pp, inc index (p/b). Price N/K. 
The Political Economy of Information on Development, Democracy & Security in 
Southern Africa is a welcome piece of work both in terms of informing the public 
about the crucial role of information in a democratic society, and as a basis for 
further research in the area. It is quite a unique book in the sense that it attempts to 
investigate the issue from various perspectives. This kind of work required experts 
in various fields; as such it not only presents the views and observations of the 
'Traditional Information Workers,' but also those of professional experts. 
In the first chapter Abate presents the conceptual framework of the problem. He 
starts by giving an overview of what he calls the three most important challenges 
facing the Southern African region, namely: development, democracy and governance, 
and security. Next, he looks at what he refers to as the "information 
problematique" and identifies various subdivisions, such as: definition of information; 
ideological dimensions; institutional-cum-infrastructural dimensions; the 
political economy of information in the context of underdevelopment; and the need 
for extensive research into the area. As a background to what needs to be done, it 
is fairly well presented. It should be pointed out, however, that with the attainment 
of majority rule in South Africa, some of the issues need to be examined in a new 
setting, hence the need for further research. 
Zwizwai's study examines the process of information generation, dissemination 
and consumption related to the economic reform and structural adjustment 
programme in Zimbabwe. The study assesses the adequacy and quality of information 
generated by and disseminated to the various parties in society. It also 
examines the extent to which the government, through legislation, protects the 
information rights of society, both on paper and in practice; and the information 
infrastructure between the government and the donor community. Among its 
findings, the study established that the people were not informed enough about the 
merits and demerits of the structural adjustment programme. As is the case with 
many other government projects, the validity of these findings would not be 
doubted. 
The next chapter is on information for manufacturing and foreign trade in 
Zimbabwe, and the study has four objectives, namely: identifying and discussing 
the information requirements and outputs of key players; analysing the requirements 
and outputs in order to determine the existence of obligations, choices and 
rights to information; considering the methods and mechanisms used to generate 
and disseminate information and discussing their shortcomings in the fulfilment of 
other key players' rights; and highlighting key problems on the flow of information
Book Reviews 111 
and recommending areas needing further examination. Chawira concludes that 
information does not reach its intended audiences and believes that there is a need 
for further research into how best the manufacturing and foreign trade sector can 
be provided with appropriate information. 
Dcve and Derges look at information for economic, social and cultural equity 
in Southern Africa and both contend that this equity does not exist. Deve, for 
example, argues that, these economic and social inequalities are based on racial 
lines, whereby the minority peoples of European descent are better-off than the 
majority of African descent. This is explained in terms of access to and control over 
information. The authors believe that to attain a reasonable degree of equity, 
peoples' strategic concerns, classified basically as access to clean water, decent 
food, health care and education, should be placed on the information agenda. 
Derges points out that the state seems not to see the importance of information in 
relation to the promotion of cultural equity. This is evidenced by the absence of 
well-articulated information policies; and the lack of adequate investment of 
resources to develop the information sector for the promotion of culture. She 
further states that SADC existed for fifteen years before the establishment of a 
culture and information sector. 
Lundu and Likubangwa examine the concept of' Information is Power' and how 
this affected the privatisation of the copper mining industry in Zambia. They start 
by presenting the history of the mining industry in Zambia; the change in policy 
direction at the beginning of the new political dispensation; and a general analysis 
of technical, economic and social issues. They then proceed to discuss the 
information scenario with regard to the copper mining industry; with a systematic 
presentation of the six parameters of the information problematique outlined in the 
research methodology. The findings of the study indicate that the government did 
not conform to all these six parameters in their handling of privatisation. 
Mugwara discusses information for food security in Southern Africa and his 
findings show that there is inadequate information on water resources and needs, 
household food security and the use of indigenous knowledge. He recommends the 
establishment of a regional information system on food security. The chapter, 
however, does not touch much on the subject of information in the context of the 
information problematique. 
In the conclusion, Lundu contends that policy-makers, political functionaries, 
business executives and leaders of academic and research institutions must 
endeavour to make use of information generated, produced and disseminated 
within the region; and he views this as the cardinal point upon which information 
across borders in the Southern African region beyond the year 2000 should be 
conceptualised and developed.
112 Book Reviews 
As mentioned in the introduction, the book has generally set the stage for further 
research in the field of the political economy of information and how it affects 
development, democracy and security in Southern Africa. One serious weakness, 
though, is the lack of consistency in the way the research was carried out as 
reflected in the way the results have been presented. In fact, the observation made 
in the preface that only two researchers pursued the investigation in a consistent 
and systematic manner is very correct. Some papers went so much away from the 
locus of the study that they ended up saying very little about the problem that they 
were set to address. 
Of importance also are some errors that may have originated from either the 
editing process or the printing process - such as incorrect citations and titles for 
some articles. Otherwise this is a book worth reading. 
Reviewed by Bright Nkhatha, Librarian, SAPES Trust, P O Box MP111, Mount 
Pleasant, Harare. Acknowledgements to SAPEM, Vol 10 No 1 1996 where this 
review originally appeared. 
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