Book R~views 97
food - encompassing of all the policy issues influencing production and consumption,
as well as trade - are important and complex. Moreover rural development and
policy alleviation are themselves politically controversial activities that further
complicate and obfuscate food aid and policy" .
By raising the above questions, one is not trying to set out a new course f<X'
awroaching the subject matter under review. It is quite amazing that out of the 627
pages, the authors managed to demonstrate that in the six countries studied, small
holder agriculture has been the key to economic growth. The book suggests that in
promoting agriculture in recipient countries, donors should concentrate on developing
human and institutional capacity. On a different note, aid givers and recipients
have often encouraged import substituting industrialisation at the expense of
a balanced output or food and export groups, but from the experience in Cameron
and Kenya described in this book,such balanced agriculture based on small
holdings, can lead to the expansion of GNP on all fronts.
Finally, one should congratulate all those involved in the study for coming
up with such a stimulating volume of work. Challenges have been thrown on aU
who are interested in the donor politics and aid to African agriculture. Whilst the
past twenty decades have definitely been one of progress for small holders
agriculture, we are still far from convincing ourselves that our experience in the
past three decades can be characterised as nothing but the lost decades.
Reviewed by Thomas Deve, Editorial Assistant, Sapes Trust, Harare
PenetrationandProtestinTanzania LMKimambo, James Curry, London 1991.
This book is a continuation of the author's earlier study published in 1969 under
the title" APolitical History of the Pare ofT anzania" where he focused onthe Pare
district of north-eastern Tanzania. Penetration and Protest in Tanzania uses ec0-
nomic activities of the people as a way of highlighting the level of Inmsfonnation
in the colonial period as opposed to its predecess<X'which used political organisation
as a framework.
In the 188 pages divided into ten chapters, the author successfully demonstrates
the nature of penetration in the f<X'ffi oflong distance trade and how this was
transformed by imperialist penetration. It is gratifying to note that the author
highlights the impact of his academic environment on his analysis of the subject
under review.
Characteristic of Africanists of his calibre, Kimambo reviews the productionof
historical knowledge in the University of Dares Salaam where he notes that
in the early 1970's. historians were critical of the nationalist historiography in its
preoccupation with politics at the expense of issues of bread and butter. By the
middle of the decade. the underdevelopment theory had become dominant, but it
was further criticised resulting in the development of a more nationalist awroach.
Impact of Penetration
This approach influences the perceptions developed in this book on Pare society.
Itis shown that during the second half of the 19thcentury when the people of Pare
communities weze brought into contact with the Western capitalist system, the
penetration process initiated an unprecedented struggle for survival among the
people.
The use of political economy approach enables Kimambo toreach the heart
of rural transformation during the colonial period giving a vivid picllJre of how
strong the impact of world economy could be even on rural communities seemingly
remote from many of the visible agents of capital. The originality in this study
stems from the way in which Kimambo has used the oral tradition to reveal the
history of the impact of the world economy in north-eastern Tanzania. Oral
information was collected at three different periods, 1965/66, 1969 and 1985.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Pare communities in all sections
of the Pare mountains were basically agricultural, with a well-balanced strucllJre
that exploited the existing ecological structure. The political organisation goes as
far back as the beginnings of settlement of agricultural communities on the
mountains and reflected the stages of political evolution in the region, depending
on the possibilities which existed for mobilising people and resources into, the
lineage. loose state and the centralised state organisations.
Between 1860 and 1900,the communities experienced penetration of
commodity trade based on iv<Xytrade, but was transformed between 1860 and
1890 to include human beings as commodities because of the slave trade.
Kimambo stresSeS that when capitalism penetrates a •subsistence' economy, it tries
to change it, in a limited way so that labour can be organised to produce the commodities
required by capitalism whenlabour had tobe organised to produce human
beings as commodities, the trading system could notremain the same as when ivory
and foodstuffs were the main items of trade (p 38). By 1900, imperialism had begun
to make labour demands in a way that supported the Pare cultivators from their
means of production.
As in most colonial economies, the Pare communities experienced situations
where participation in the labour 1lUU'ket became a function of the effort price
of participating in the peasant sector in response to the "new" market owortunities
created by the long distance trade ,ie providing foodstuffs to caravans, etc
.......
related activities; food to feed construction workers as soon as the railway line
reached Pare in 1905, and after 1907. Increased rice production was stimulated in
the Kihurio and Kisiwani areas.
Contradictions
Opportunities for wage employment increased with the establishment of sisal
plantations on the foothills of the mountains, but by 1920, it was clear that the need
for cash was already sending young Pare men to work outside the mountains
especially in Moshi, either in town or in plantations. Increased production ofcoffee
and cotton especially in the late 1920s marked the firm incorporation of the Pare
into the capitalist system of production, basically by becoming producers of food
crops and coffee, and to a lesser extent suppliers of labour to estates and wban
areas.
Kimambo exposes the irrationality of unequal competitive opportunities
provided for the white settlers and the Africans. Whilst colonial representatives
encouraged the growth of coffee in the 1920s, the 19308 decade witnessed
supervised upAA>tingof coffee trees in response to pressure from settlers who
wanted to maintain a monopoly over coffee production and, the determination of
thegovernment to make the Pare people more cotton producers. Whilst there was
a drive to increase land under tillage, there was a marked land shortage exhibited
in the seasonal migration from the mountains. Food shortages became inevitable
since agricultural possibilities in this area were dependent on a careful balancing
of ecological situations. Pressure to increase land used for cash crops meant that
there was less land for alternative uses and invariably food crops were suffering.
Popular Protest alid Community Development
Seeds for popular protest were increasingly germinating. 1be chiefs p-eoccupied
themselves with strengthening their powers as agents of the colonial rule ridden
with a crisis in its implementation of rural development policies. Peasant protests
had been experienced before 1944, but popular protest which was directed at the
oppressivecolonial system was remarkable at the level of coordination - especially
information circulation in all the communities living in the isolated plateaux,
ridgesand slopes of the three divisions of the Pare mountains. lbe significance of
this protest was that the mbiru protest was the first mass action which transocndcd
previous divisions and created unity among all the Pare people - using nonviolence
as a method of fighting ~ression.
From 1947.to 1953, the colonial authorities set up structures to encouI'I8C
an atmosphere of cooperation in malcing the district a unit of production in me
colonialsystem viz local government reforms. The local government reforms, it is
-
1()() Book Reviews
argued by Kimambo, could use the energies of outspoken dissidents in giving
ideas, but would not produce the kind of mobilisation required. Expanding the
education base through community development became the watchword after the
Second World war. This period is considered. most striking in the impact of colonisation
on Upare. The people had become visibly restless because of underdevelopment.
The Pare model influenced the Tanganyika government's planning for
integrated development. During the community development of Upare, tremendous
progress had been made in social development, but agricultural problems
remained unsolved.
In Chapter nine, Peoples Efforts in Capitalist Participation, 1948-1960,
Kimambo raises some theoretical questions occupying the centre stage of peasant
studies, ie criteria for differentiation. In 'Pare, differentiation was not sharp in the
early stages because of the size of agricultural holdings.
If one takes a close look, differentiation was definite. It was slow to
crystallise because the system of land holding had not created land control by a
small group except in a few cases where the centralised state system had given the
ruling group control of land allocation and collection of tributes. By the time of
the mbiru revolt, one could discern three district groups playing different roles: the
ruling group of chiefs, sub-chiefs and headmen; the educated group of teachers,
clerks and traders, and the ordinary peasants. Because of the various roles each
category played, they basically shared one thing in common, ie the value they
attached to agriculture.
Concluding Remarks
The final chapter focuses on a very important theme especially for those who study
the post-colonial state. The pre-colonial experience created what could be called
a Pare culture and in terms of ethnicity, three symbols, ie the highland homeland,
Chasu language and the lifelong experience in ritual could be seen. But after the
creation of the Pare district under colonialism, the people's symbols of identity
were called into question because of changes taking place.
In conclusion, Kimambo' s account of the Pare district is well researched,
coherent and readable. For those who have studied the impact of colonial penetration
on African society take heed, of what Kimambo noted "Many scholars who
have taken an interest in the question of the impact of colonialism on African
societies generally have been influenced by the short period during which coloni-
~sm lasted.They refer to it as an interlude. Some would like to see it as an
insignificant interlude which did not disrupt the continuity of the main trends in
African history. However, others recognise it as an important interlude which
Boo"R~views 101
drastically changed the course of the history of the Africans themselves. Their
societies were sent down an exploitative path in which they have remained even
afterpolitical independence. When we speak of capitalist penetration, we are going
even further, beyond the imperialist phase" (p 178).
Reviewed by Thomas Deve, Editorial Assistant, Sapes Trust, Harare.
If a Partner has Aids: Guide to Clinical Interventionfor Relationships in Crisis,
R Dennis Shelby, 277pp, Harrington Park Press, New York.
This engaging book presents a psychoanalytic study of the experience of 32 gay
men in partnerships in which one or both has mv and developed AIDS. It traces
the range of their experiences from initial fears of the possible diagnosis, "wondering",
through phases relating to confirmation, the progression of disease, death,
mourning and the "Back into the world" recovery of the surviving partner. The
author examines the way in which their relationships develop and change, and the
meaning to both partners of the illness, through the conceptual framework of self
psychology.
The author's decision to write the book grew from an awareness of the
neglect of lovers in the literature on AIDS and, from his clinical practice, growing
exposure to their needs. He explores conventional mourning theory and examines
how this applies to the personal experience of his subjects, and elaborates on
current theory to provide many useful insights for effective clinical intervention.
Grief, loss and mourning are approached through the field of self psychology, with
its emphasis on empathy and on concepts of self-object the way relationships
mirror one's own self perceptions and reinforce coping or, alternatively, a failure
to cope.
Throughout, the analysis is interpreted with first-hand experience, often
related in direct speech, from the subjects. This grounds the theoretical discussion
fIrmly in experience, and greatly enriches t!Ie book for the lay reader as well as
elucidating the material for the counsellor. Itexemplifies very well the empathetic
understanding and counselling process the author adopts in his clinical practice.
For developing countries where AIDS is primarily a heterosexual disease
and babies are also affected, many important areas are left untouched. The couples
described are all childless gay couples, often experiencing degrees of isolation and
stigma because of their sexual orientation. Nonetheless, the insights into their
feelings, dilemmas and coping strategies do have relevance to straight, heterosexual
couples facing AIDS, and may therefore help counsellors to assist them more