128 Book Reviews
change rather than our inability to break free from a vicious political circle. It is
becoming more evident that, just like the Movement's unclear agenda, the process
of change to democracy sought even now has no clear agenda. People are even
given an empty ballot paper that only helps to put into power pests that are out to
make the most from the poor people's sweat Untamable pests that rape the
people's dream and subvert their aspirations of independence and freedom.
Shall Africa ever be free from untamed pests and night storms to be a
democracy?
Reviewed by: Reuben Makayiko Chirambo, University of Malawi, English Department,
Chancellor College, POBox 280, Zomba, Malawi, email: RC hirambo@unima.wn.apc.org
(Reuben Chirambo teaches English Literature inthe University of Malawi and is currently
researching on literature and society, especially the democratisation process taking place
in African societies and how literature is responding to it.)
Book Reviews
Nurtured by Knowledge: Learning to do Participatory Action-Research.
Edited by Susan E Smith, Dennis K Willms & Nancy A Johnson,The Apex Press,
New York, 1997, 279pp. Includes Foreword, Preface, Figures, Tables, Photographs
and Bibliography
People's right to actively participate in the production of knowledge is hardly
acknowledged in conventional academic research. Participatory Action-Research
(PAR) however, not only acknowledges people's right to participate in the
generationand consumptionof knowledge, but also consciously strives to promote
it PARinvolves people inthe entire research process in the hope that it would have
a transformativeeffecton them. Paulo Freire captures the transformativecharacter
ofPARin the forewordto the volume thus: "People rupture their existing attitudes
of silence, accommodation andpassivity. and gain confidence andahilities to alter
unjust conditions and structures" (p xi).
The volume Nurtured by Knowledge: Learning to do Participatory Action-
Research attempts to shed some light on the involvement of people in the research
process.
The book has seven chapters: six case study reports and one theoretical article.
The six case studies fromMexico, Canada, Honduras, Uganda, India and Chile are
used to illustrate concepts and principles of Participatory Action-Research.
In the first case study Gerald Debink (a Canadian dairy farmer) and Arturo
Ornelas (a Mexican educator and community activist) narrate their complex
experiences '1u[[of twists. questions. doubts as well as moments of great joy"
Book Reviews 129
working together with local Mexican subsistence farmers, the campesinos. Their
experiences are drawn from their participation in "Cows for Campesinos Project"
in which Canadian farmers donated cows to Mexican farmers.
The second case study report by Mary Law demonstrates the transfonnative
nature of Participatory Action-Research. She documents efforts of parents of
disabled children and the researcher (facilitator) to change disabling environments
in Ontario, Canada.
Patricia Seymour in the third case study uses Participatory Action-Research to
discover the main factors that promote or inhibit women's use of government
health services in Northern India. By the end of the research, not only did Patricia
discover the said factors but also increased her understanding ofP AR as "a broad
approach to problem-solving and communicating." This approach is entrenched
in cooperation and egalitarianism.
In the article "We are Dying. It is Finished:' based on a Ugandan case study,
Patricia Spittal and others weave ethnographic research design to participatory
approach. This way, the authors capture the life experiences of women who "fear
and suffer the consequences of IIIV/AIDS." The authors listened to the women's
experiences, shared their suffering, mourned their losses, consoled them and
created awareness.
In the fifth case study report Maria- Ines Arratia and Isabel de la Maza document
their experiences working with the Aymara people of Chile. Their experiences
highlight the importance of Participatory Action-Research in strengthening communities,
fostering local organisation and in the process transforming local
realities.
In the sixth case study report Arturo Ornelas presents Participatory Action-
Research as a way of life involving vulnerability, risk-talking trust, openness,
patience and impatience. According to him, social participation in Honduras
enables people to be directly involved in decisions that affect their lives.
Participatory Action-Research as an interactive learning process stands out in
the six case study reports. The authors (also participants) describe their experiences
and actions revealing their own reactions, doubts and learning. The Ugandan and
the Indian cases, for instance, capture the twists and turns that characterise PAR:
moments of uncertainty, confusion and frustration. This demonstrates the extent to
which PAR immersed the participants in the problems and in the problem-solving
process.
Susan Smith kneads the case study experience into a theoretical exposition in
the last chapter. She deduces from the case study reports a spiralling sequential
framework of Participatory Action-Research. The elements of this framework
include: knowing self, seeking connections, grounding in context, beginning
praxis, experiencing conscientisation and awakening in that order. The last
element - awakening - creates a new quest of being (knowing self) and the
130 Book Reviews
Participatory Action-Research spiral then enters a new phase.
By bringing together the case study reports and the theoretical exposition, the
editors manage to immerse the reader in the theory and practice of PAR because
the lessons learned in the case studies are consolidated into principles of participatory
research methodology.
The volume's appeal and readerbility is greatly enhanced by the participatory
style of reporting which enables the authors to share their experiences in an
involving manner. In this regard it is worth noting that in virtually all the case study
reports, the authors use the first person (I, we) rather than the third person style
commonly used in academic writing. Occasional use of dialogue (direct speech)
and local terms such as campesinos (Mexican subsistence farmer) and dais
(traditional village birth attendant, North India) effectively usher the reader into the
world of Participatory Action-Research.
The volume is certainly valuable to students, teachers and other people interested
in learning to undertaking Participatory Action-Research. In fact the book
goes beyond "Learning to do PAR" to nurture and advocate foc it.
Reviewed by KibetANg' etich. Anthropology and Sociology Department, Egerton
University, POBox 536, Njoro, Kenya.
"Gay and Lesbian Professionals in the Closet. Who's In. Who's Out, and
Why?" edited by Teresa De Crescenw, published by Harrington Park Press, New
York. An imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc, New York (1997), 94pp inc index.
ISBN: 0-7890-0331-7 (h/b); 1-56023-104-1 (pjb).Price:$US29.95{h/b); $US14.95
(p/b).
Aim of the book and who it is directed at
By outlining experiences of several gay professionals, the book aims at critically
reviewing the disclosure process. Authors of several articles in the book acknowledge
the complications of the disclosure process and talk about disadvantages and
advantages of coming out of the closet, limiting these mostly to gay and lesbian
professionals mainly in the helping professions, eg, psychotherapists, personnel in
psychiatric settings, religious workers such as priests, etc.
In the foreword, the book's Editor Teresa De Crescenzo, speaking from
experience, encourages gay closeted professionals to come out of the closet and the
message she puts across is for these professionals in the closet to speak up and out
DeCrescenw acknowledges that there may be dangers involved in speaking out
but she outlines the advantages for the person concerned as:
• self fulf1lment
• not being stifled.