84 Book Reviews
Rural Transformation in Tropical Africa, D Rimmer (ed), Belhaven Press/
Printer, London, 1988 (177p, price and ISBN not stated).
On the whole the book is very informative.
I have some reservations, but these could be misleading as I am unsure of
who the target readership is. First the lack of a clear definition of rural
transformation in the various papers. This shortcoming makes it difficult to follow
some discussions and a clear definition would assist the reader to focus and digest
the information presented.
Second, the lack of an in-depth analysis of the topic. Most papers tend
to provide facts and information. An in depth analysis of some factors would have
been more stimulating and would have promoted understanding of the issues in
rural transformation, for example, an historical background would have put some
of the issues and constraints into perspective; as would a discussion of the role of
extraneous factors such as drought, the world recession, the politics of
reconciliation,reliance on donor aid tied to capital equipment and technical
expertise/expatriates, the process of industrialisation, the effects of the mass
media, a lack of education on the part of policy makers, implementers and
recipients, cultural inequalities, etc.
Third, rural transformation is said to be different from rural development,
but I had difficulty in identifying the major differences between the two concepts.
However, having said this, rural transformation appears to call for adaption
socially, politically, economically and culturally. According to who the target
readership is, recommendations for ways in which this adaptation could be
encaused could have been given by each author.
Fourth, I wonder if the various authors, as academics suffer from what
Chambers has called "The Rural Tourist Syndrome", ie people who do not reside
in rural areas but visit them to carry out studies and prescribe solutions to problems.
There is a 'them and us' gap. Solutions and prescriptions suitable for urban areas
differ from those of rural areas both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Fifth, I would have appreciated the inclusion of a chapter on the human
resource development necessary to effect social, economic, political and cultural
change. Transformation takes place in people who are the active participants.
Human resource development should be aimed at policy makers, donors, change
agents and consumers. They must be prepared for technological change through
education.
I have enjoyed reading this publication and would recommend it to
Book Reviews 85
students of economics, adult education and rural development, with my views
taken into consideration.
Reviewed by E Matenga, Masters in Adult Education Student, University of
Zimbabwe, Harare.
Reference
Chambers R (1983) Rural Development: Putting the lastfust. Longman, London.
Urban Inequality Under Socialism: Case Studies from Eastern Europe and the
Soviet Union, David M. Smith, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Although written before the fall and ultimate demise of state socialism in much of
Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union _ indeed before the political restructuring of
that entire region _ this book provides a useful and important reference in helping
students of Geography and Urban Studies better understand the nature and
characteristics of urban areas rarely studied by Western scholars. Comprehensive,
concisely written and complete with detailed maps of many of the study areas, it
relies primarily on geographical perspective. Drawing on secondary research
sources (including some by the author) of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary and Poland, the bulk of the book is devoted to the Soviet and Polish city
case studies. With a focus on the spatial distribution of indicators of inequality, it
is strangely prophetic of the events which have transpired in the two years since the
book was published. Particularly haunting is the concluding paragraph of the book,
referring to the case of Poland: "the disaffection of the masses has at least some
of its origin in the inequality of urban life ...".
Nonetheless, the changing geopolitical realities of the region do not by
any means render the book irrelevant or even out of date. As students of urbanism
are well aware, the built form of any city tends to be very enduring. In this way,
just as the socialist cities of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union inherited an urban
form from the previous capitalist era, so will the emergent regimes _ however they
eventually define themselves - inherit certain physical realities from the socialist
'od.
pen With the collapse, both literal and symbolic, of the barriers dividing East
and West, what the author describes as the "relative inaccessibility of some of the
countries concerned" along with the "difficulty which Western scholars and
teachers often have in dealing with socialism dispassionately and objectively if at
all" may dissolve as well.