80 Book ReykM
Commodity-based extension is dealt with in Chapters 2 and 3, using the examples of the
cash cropIl cotton and tobacco. In both cases the approach is top-down and the extensionislJ
provide all the necessaryresources. Thcnext set of chapters are anexpositionofthe training
and visit system. In Chapter 4, the editor argues in support of this system, but both sides of
the case are well-lXesented. InChapter 5, Gentil raises anumbel' of questions on the T ml
V system, and a case study is provided.
Chapters 7 and 8 discuss, elaborately, fanna- participatory extension methodologies, ml
Belloncle proposes group instruction. Chapter 9 is a case study of a Village Producen
Association in Mali. The theory behind fanning system research and on farm research is
given in Ch~ 10. Chapter 11 is a case study of fanning systems research in Senegal.
Morris discusses the merits and demmts of T and V and the fanning system research
methodologies under East African conditions in Chapter 12. He concludes that the two
systems are complementary and are useful inthe generationanddissemination of technology.
InChapter 13 the economic return on public investment in extension reforms is considered,
and the management of fIeld personnel is discussed. 1be fmal chapter, Chapter 14, is a
review of issues in extension that require continuous attention.
Although each chapter is clearly separated by section breaks and simple language is used,
the lXesentation is marred by a lack of illustrations and otha-visual aids. Diagrams, picb.Jres
and other aids break the monotony of reading print continuously, help reduce the number
of words used and enhance comprehension. However, overall, readers, especially academics,
will find the book informative, educative and interesting.
Reviewed by Livai Chenjerai Matarirano, Agritex, Harare.
The End of the Third World: New IndustrlaJislng Countries and the Decline of III
Ideology, Nigel Harris, Penguin, London, 1987 (pp231, £3,95).
Inrecent months there has been much talk about Zimbabwe trying to join the ranks of the
Newly Industrialising Countries (NICs). For those interested in pursuing such a course in
this country, Nigel Harris' The End or the Third World should be required reading.
TheNlCs are a group ofThird World countries which have transformed their economies
ova- the last two decades. Starting out as mainly primary producers they have moved to the
production and export of a wide range of goods. There is little argument arnongst economislJ
that such transformations have taken place in the six countries studied by Harris: South
Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Brazil and Mexico, Indeed the rate of increase in
production in these nations has been prolffic. South Korea, for instance, advanced from a
minuscule builder of ships (20000 tons per year in the 1960's) to a 23% share of the world
market by 1983 (4 million tons). Taiwan, which like South Korea oriented its ecooomy
toward exports, organised a sophisticated electronics industry which by 1982 made the
Taiwanese the leading Third World electroniCs manufacturer. The city-states of Hoog
Kong and Singapore, as well as the two Latin American giants Brazil and Mexico,
underwent similar changes to become large-scale exporters of goods ranging from textiles
and office machina-y to weapons' systems.
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BookR.mW$ 81
The conclusions which eccnomists have drawn from the advances made by these NICs
v&eywidely. COIlS«Vative 'liberalisen' have been quick: to praise the new industrial might
of these countries IS a success for free market forces. They view countries like Taiwll1 and
South Korea as the frrst wave of asuccessful capitalist future fot the underdeveloped world.
This is certainly the prevailing view amongst intemational financial institutions such. the
IMP and World Bank.
As aMarxist, Harris dissents from this analysis. He detaiIs how history and international
economic conditions were on the side of these NICs. His first point is that none of the
countries noted are really 'new' industrialisers. By IS early .1950 allhlldsuccess in some
induslrialfields. Theirexpertiseandtecl1oologywere atalevel flll'abovemostunderdeveloped
countries when they began rapid expansion.
Even more importantly, the NICs growth tookp1ace at a time when the developed world
was experien<;ing a boom. In the late 60's and early 70's Western powers were receptive
to the importation of goods produced in places like Taiwan and Singapore. In addition,
multinational banks were eager to finance overseas ventures. But, in HlII'ris's view, all this
has changed. Since the mid-1970's global capitalism. except for Japan, has somewhat
slumped. Western COIDltriesnow feel the need to poteet their own industries. In the wake
of mounting world debt, banks and international fmancial institutions are less willing to
gamble on Third World enteqrises. Thus the possibility for other countries to follow the
path of the NICs seems somewhat remote.
Besides showing the limited chances for NIC style growth in the future, Harris details
how the newly industrialising countries were not based on a free m8Iket system at all.
According to traditional freenwketnotions the state should play an absolutely minimaI role
in the economy. Yet during South Korea's expansion period HlII'risclaims the (p42) "state
dominated the entire process of growth". The 80vemmenI nationa1ised the nation's five
llII'gest banks and the state controlled two-thirds of investment Even the Chairperspn of
Daewoo, one of South Korea's lMgestcorporations, complained that (p42) "the government
tells you its your duty and you have to do it, even if there is no pofit Maybe after the year
2000 Korean businessmen will be able to put their company's interests ahead of those of
society or government". With similas evidence, HlII'risconcludes that all of the six NICs,
with the possible exception of Hong Kong, were "state capitalist" rather than free market
economies.
Harris's last and pa:haps most relevant point is thatNIC type growthmust beclll'ried out
at the expense of the majority. He alleges (P196): "The aim of the governments of the NICs
has been to do all in their pow~ to frustrate the growth of the most modest forms of worker
involvement embodied in independent organisation and bargaining." Inother words, even
if international conditions were favourable, an authoritl!l'ian state IX'epared to lRlJlIlfCSIl
moves to democratise theeconomic system is an integral plII'tofNIC type growth. As HlII'ris
puts it (P195): "A regime whose main instrument to enforce conformity is terror for the
majority and bribes for the few can keeP up 111 impressive rate of growth of crude output
regl!l'dless of what the wOJtfuroe thinks". Only in such a state can the type of low wages
aI¥l induatrial revolution style labour oooditions, lIUCh • those found in South Korea or
Mexico, be sustained.
82 Book Reviews
As an advocate of democratic socialism Hanis does not see the NIC model to be of
benefit to the workers of underdeveloped countries. While he does argue that the NICs have
changed the structure of their economies so thattheycannolong~ be considered to be 'Third
World', these changes have, in his view, merely brought new problems, not prosperity, to
workers in the NICs. For Harris the only salvation for the rnajority of citizens in
underdeveloped nations lies in the development of some type of international working class
solidarity. The NICs blossomed in a period where technology, particularly in transport m;I
telecommunications, gave multinational corporations the option of producing where labom
costs were lowest. Frequently this meant relocation of factories from North America m;I
Western Europe to cheap labour 11'ea5 in underdeveloped nations. Foremost among these
cheap labour areas w~e the NICs. It was this sort of foreign investment which was a
precursor to the rise of locally owned multinationals.
But Harris does not think the future economic expansion of undeveloped countries
should rest merely on the llU],JeZ-exploitationof the workforce. He contends that the type of
labour exploitation which occurred in these NICs can only be stopped when labour becomes
as ~ational in perspective as themu1tinational corporation entployers. No form ofloca1
nationalism is enough to deter the rising force of ~ational Capital. Without any
powerful international labour organisations, Harris believes multinational corporations will
continue to gravitate toward nations where labour is cheapest. The result will be superexploitation
in these nations, and millions of unemployed in other countries whose chief
hope for fmding a job will rest m underbidding their fellow worlcers across the globe.
Clearly Harris would be no advocate of trade liberalisation programmes such as
Zimbabwe's new Investment Code. Those who are now championing the liberalisation
canse locally would do well to consider Harris's points. The author clearly knows his
economics. Furthermore, un1ikeeconomists ingenel"al, and Marxists in particular, he writes
in an accessible style that is devoid of rhetoric. His biggest shortcoming is that in offering
international labour solidarity as an alternative vision to rapid capital accumulation, his
suggestions are not very concrete. Some hints about what type of international labour
organisation could effectively serve workers' interests, and how they could develop into a
global force, would go a long way towards making bis argwnents more worthy of serious
contenlplation as an alternative to the present world dominance of the free market idea.
Reviewed by John Pope, Harare.
Africa and Empire: WMMacMUlan, H~an and Social Critic, Hugh MacMilllll and
Shula Marks, Gow~, Aldershot, 1989 (353pp, £29,50).
This fine collection of stimulating essays on Sou~ African historiography is a trifleOVtcgenerous
towards its subject, W M MacMillan. His gentle Fabian approach to politia.was
wholly ineffective in the face of the rapaciouSness of lh>se who gave Southern Africa
segregation and apartheid while removing the gold. His wrirln8s, in retrospect, havenot the
pow~ of Eddie Roux' s Time Longer Than Rope, nor the understanding later to be found
in Simons's Class and Colour In South Africa. One who could write in 1930, when the
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