114 Book Reviews 
Robert Chambers, Rural Development; Putting the Last First 246 pgs, 
Longman, London, 1983 price not indicated. 
Chambers, a Fellow of the Institute of Development Studies at the 
University of Sussex, has subtitled his book Putting the Last First indicating 
not only the ideological position he is taking up but also that the book is 
aimed primarily at the 'professional', both the academic and the 
practitioner, who is concerned with or working directly or indirectly in rural 
development and rural poverty. Chambers takesra refreshingly positive but 
critical look at the problems of rural poverty and the role of the 
'professionals'. His concern is in many respects primarily with the 
'outsider', 'the rural tourist', who plans for and designs programmes for 
rural development. The outsider in this case may be an expatriate but also 
includes local people who are urban based (and biased!) and who do not 
spend extended lengths of time with the rural poor. 
The first half of the book is taken up with looking at the problem of the 
'professional' and the problems of rural poverty, with interesting concepts 
introduced including the 'deprivation trap' and the 'poverty ratchet'. While 
Chambers has strong bias throughout the book to the importance of the 
analysis of situations, the chapter on causes of rural poverty is not entirely 
adequate and satisfactory but does isolate a number of issues which are of 
growing concern to anyone working in rural development—concerns 
expressed earlier in the writings of Freire, Illich, Shumacher and others. 
The latter half of the book tries to look at and open up areas of action 
and ways of operating which will correct the biases and reverse the trend of 
poverty in rural areas. Chambers uses a number of examples from Asia and 
Africa south of the Sahara to build up a picture of the possibilities for 
action. Most of these possibilities, in line with the major aim of the book, 
focus on the 'professional'—their attitudes, ways of working, interaction 
with the rural poor, rural elite and political structures. A strong call is made 
for a committed professional whose values are geared to putting the 'last 
first'—by listening to and learning from the rural poor and encouraging the 
development of local control over decisions, resources and actions, and 
building the capacity of these generally vulnerable and powerless groups to 
analyse their own situations and act on them. 
Chambers is calling for a number of what he calls 'reversals' which in the 
long or short term must lead to a major change in the status quo in rural 
areas and in the attitudes of those involved in rural development. These 
reversals include reversals in learning (who learns from whom?), reversals in 
management (who makes the decisions for whom and at what levels? from 
the top or the bottom?), reversals of personal action and commitment on 
the part of professionals, reversals in the conventional methods of gathering 
information from rural people (the survey method comes in for a great deal 
of criticism), and a reversal from participant observation to participant 
organisation. 
Chamber's concern is that the 'new professional' should be a person who 
can and does critically examine his own actions and biases, a
Book Reviews 1/5 
multidisciplinarian who is open to new information and ideas, to dialogue 
with the poor, and is innovative in his approach to action. Above all the 
new professional is a person who knows, cares and acts. 
Rural Development is a highly readable book, from cover to cover or 
'dipping' into it, and should be recommended reading for all students and 
professionals in the social sciences and in other disciplines that are involved 
in one way or another with the rural poor—particularly administrators, 
planners, policy makers and research workers. The development of the 'new 
professional' who is critical of his own situation and his own actions is long 
overdue. 
Reviewed by Brigid Willmore, Harare.