84 Book Reviews 
giving women their rights, when in actual fact it is common knowledge that 
many governments have made quite substant ial strides in this regard. Credit 
should be given were it is due but, in my opinion, the books will be found 
wanting in this respect. Another cause for concern is that the texts both seem 
to blame everyone else but women for the plight of women. The authors 
do not seem to want to acknowledge that in some instances some women are 
to blame for their situation. Women, for a number of reasons, have tailed 10 
stand up and be counted. In my opinion, they need to emancipate 
themselves from themselves first, before they can seek liberation from their 
male counterparts. There is a deafening silence in both books in this regard. 
A statement to this effect is conspicuous by its absence, and yet, if included, 
it would serve to strengthen, rather than weaken, the argument for women's 
emancipation. 
I also sense a certain amount of agitation and emotionalism in some of the 
statements made in the two books. Emotion, though sometimes an asset 
where mobilisation is the aim, is capable of affecting objectivity negatively. 
For instance, the call that women should not only challenge but even 
'subvert' the system in order to achieve their goal is at best ill-conceived. 
Harmony and peace must be the order of the day if women expect 
unflinching support and co-operation from their male counterparts. 
In spite of these criticisms, I should say the two books on women and the 
law are quite useful contributions to the literature on women and 
development and should be most valuable to those involved in women's 
studies at universities, colleges and similar institutions. The books should 
also be useful to those working with women and indeed those interested in 
women's issues per se. Legal personnel should also find the texts quite 
informative and useful and so should development workers in general. In 
particular the books will be a companion to development workers from the 
developed world employed by non-governmental organisations operating 
in the rural areas of developing countries. 
Both publications are highly recommended. 
Reviewed by Roderick Mupedziswa, School of Social Work, Harare. 
Money, Banking and Public Finance in Africa, Ann Seidman, ZED Press, 
London, 1986 (36Spp, £8,95 pbk, £22,9.5 hbk). 
This book is an interesting attempt to construct an analytical framework 
which is appropriate for an Understanding of the nature of the economic 
disequilibria which have wrought havoc with African economies and 
frustrated their attempts to attain desired objectives. Cases in point are the 
post-colonial declarations, genuine or otherwise, to carry out socialist 
transformation, and the contradictory and invidious conditions in which the 
various countries find themselves. The author seeks to depict the
Book Reiiews <?' 
peculiarities of the problems confronting African states, particularly in the 
areas of banking and finance, and the ways in which different countries in 
the continent have dealt with these problems. Among the topical problems 
identified in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s are chronic balance of 
payments constraints, mounting budget deficits, rising indebtedness, rising 
inflation and vulnerability to exogenous variables. 
The book departs from standard convention first by combining in a single 
volume a treatment of money, banking and public finance. The author 
draws support for such an approach from the socialist view that financial 
crises can be overcome by state control and co-ordination of activities in the 
three fields. Secondly the book departs from standard convention by 
examining side by side two major theoretical perspectives, referred to as 
mainstream theory and Marxist theory, which adopt totally different 
methodologies and lead to different policy suggestions. 
Policy makers are supposed to combine the three fields when taking 
policy positions. For example a country's financial programme is essentially 
a set of synchronised policy measures in the area of money, fiscal policy and 
balance of payment measures intended to achieve given economic targets. If 
one considers the financing implications of budget deficits it becomes 
difficult to treat monetary and fiscal policies as strictly separate instruments 
(a la Tinbergen Mundell policy framework), especially in the context of the 
economies that this book is about. A mechanistic application of the 
conventional targets instrument approach would have limitations in such a 
context. This, however, does not mean that it should be rejected outright but 
rather that it should be tempered with a sensible judgement of reality. 
The book explains phenomena in terms of the two theoretical 
perspectives and analyses the three fields in terms of perspectives held by 
either theory with a view to ascertaining which of them offers a better 
explanation and therefore a better guide to policies. 
A problem solving methodology is adopted and the view that theories are 
not to be treated as dogmas but rather as guides to diagnose solutions is 
underscored. Indeed the linchpin of an effective development strategy is the 
setting up of a means-ends arrangement that is contextually germane. Such a 
relationship is essentially an empirical matter which if broken out of reduces 
hypotheses to a romanticisation of reality. The question that comes to mind 
concerns the extent to which the problem solving methodology is sustained 
in the book The author clearly has predilections for a more radical 
theoretical perspective, which in itself is not necessarily a negative thing. 
Reading through the book one gets an impression of an either/or situation 
with respect to theoretical perspectives. This stands in sharp contrast to the 
dictates of a problem solving method. If the focus is on the problem, ie 
poverty, then the choice is not so much between theoretical perspective A or 
B but rather between what is serviceable or otherwise at a practical level and
86 Book Reviews 
can lead to ways of tackling poverty. At a practical level there seems in be a 
strong case for an amalgam of useful theoretical perspectives which is not 
dictated to by ideological predilections. The problems experienced by the 
countries that the book is about, or anywhere else, do not present 
themselves in neat categories. 
The author's thesis, on the brutalising effects of colonialism, the structural 
conditioning effects of development strategies adopted, and the difficulties 
in revamping this set up, is quite forceful and convincing. However, the 
same cannot be said about the suggested solutions. There are many 
problems associated with the approach, and not least among them is an 
underestimation of the problems that the setting up of a socialist system 
attracts and the extent of the plots against it by the forces of capital. The book 
seems to accept, without questioning, the theoretical pronouncements 
about the intention to carry out socialist transformation. The lip service paid 
to this intention may not be an unimportant contributor to the retention of 
the status quo, it is worth noting that the rhetoric of politicians is a poor 
guide to their real intention in the economic field. 
While the author's broad categorisation of the mainstream theory and 
Marxian perspective is not incorrect, it is worth taking stock of the real 
differences between theoreticians within either category. Since these are not 
neutral to the policy positions advocated, contrasting theoretical perspectives 
is a useful expositional device which can be misleading if applied too 
rigidly in the real world. It is not unusual to find economists or politicians 
whose views on particular subjects do not consistently derive from uniform 
theoretical perspectives. 
The book has lour main parts. The first five chapters deal with money and 
banking issues. Within that section, the author draws on evidence from the 
experiences of banking s\ stems in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. The 
role of money in the process of development and the part played by banks is 
discussed from the point of view of the two main theoretical perspectives. 
The second part of the book examines the problem of public finance in 
African economies. The discussion is set against the background of an article 
which warns against the tendencies to financial irresponsibility to which 
socialist governments, and other developing countries, are predisposed 
because of their humane commitments. In developing countries, these 
tendencies are traced to the attempts to redress the distortions of colonial 
policies and to cope with crises of expectations. 
The author documents the genesis of the dilemma of public finances in 
African economies, and highlights the emergence of the recurrent cost 
problem, the widening gap between revenues and expenditures and the 
debt problem. The divergent conceptions of mainstream theories and 
Marxists in public finance are attributed to differences in views on the role of 
the state in the development process and money and banking. Debates on
Bonk Rnint's AT 
balanced budgets versus deficit spending, taxation structures and strategies 
and public debt are discussed in this framework. Among some of the 
author's findings is the tendency for the burden of taxation in many African 
countries to fall more heavily on indirect taxes, the underutilisation ot tax 
capacities, the inability of many countries to incorporate the expanded 
public sector into coherent plans to restructure economies, and the 
perpetuation of the status quo. 
Part III deals with the evolution of the international monetary system, the 
original sins of the Bretton Woods System, the integration of the African 
economies into the capitalist system and their vulnerability to disorders in 
the system. The main actors in the international monetary systems and their 
roles positive or negative over time are discussed. Among those the authors 
discussed are the transnational banks, the Euro-currency market, the Breton 
Woods institutions and the African Development Bank. In simple terms the 
theoretical position attributed to Marxists suggests a 'conspiracy theory' 
and that attributed to mainstream theory argues economic rationality and 
therefore non-interference with the 'efficient' operation of market forces. 
Part IV draws on the experiences of socialist countries in their efforts to 
build socialism. The conceptual framework for socialism is set up and the 
way in which national budgeting and planning are conducted is discussed. It 
is shown that the traditional policy instruments, such as monetary and fiscal 
policy, assume a different significance in terms of the way in which they are 
deployed. 
While the author acknowledges the raging debates among socialists and 
the reform taking place in centrally planned economies, she does not 
sufficiently highlight the underlying problems necessitating the reforms, 
especially if other aspiring countries are to derive lessons from these 
experiences. It could also have been useful to bring in the experience of 
developing countries that have made serious attempts to chart socialist 
paths. It is only through an intimate knowledge of the problems that 
African countries, intending to chart such a course, can stand a chance of 
success. By drawing too much on the experience of fully fledged and more 
developed socialist economies, the author's efforts could be criticised along 
the lines that the appropriateness of conventional economic theory, is also 
being questioned in developing countries. 
The book makes an interesting description and analysis of the problems 
facing African economies, but it is rather short on solutions and could be 
frustrating to policy makers. This simply goes to show that there are no 
panaceas for the development problem, the search for solutions should 
continue. Whatever the criticisms, the author has made a laudable attempt 
to plug the theoretical lacuna which still endures. There is a real need for 
concerted efforts to conceptualise African problems and develop more 
appropriate theoretical frameworks. Hopes for die future seem to lie with an
88 Book Reviews 
approach that engages in some amount of positive eclecticism rather than 
being parochial. The author's annotated bibliography is particularly helpful 
for students and economists interested in further research in this important 
area. 
One could not agree more with the author's suggestion that scholars and 
practitioners need to re-examine their theoretical views and policy 
prescriptions. Such re-examinations must be undertaken even if it turns 
upside down the very basis of conventional wisdom. Together with die 
author one would hope that the text will stimulate further research and 
evaluation and dius advance the cause of development. 
Reviewed by Obert Nyawata, African Development Bank, Abidjan. 
Social Work With Rural Peoples. Theory and Practice, Ken Collier, New 
Star Books, Vancouver, 1984 (144pp, no price given). 
This slim volume sets out to discuss the theory and practice of social work 
with rural people in North America, examining from an avowedly Marxist 
materialist perspective the nature of rural people's lives, experience and 
needs, and the impact social work can and could have on them. It is 
explicidy not a 'skills' book but a discussion of die need for social workers to 
'interpret', 'analyse' and 'construct' die realities of the rural setting so diat 
dieir practice may be effective and supportive rarfier dian irrelevant or 
oppressive. It aims to be of use to human service workers in rural areas in 
general, and to rural people themselves. 
Crucially, die audior draws attention to the need for different approaches 
to social work practice in rural areas from those typically learnt and 
experienced in die urban setting, and he points out the problems inherent in 
die (urban) 'outside expert' arriving in a rural area and expecting to be taken 
seriously. 
The author begins by oudining historical processes of economic 
development from foraging to agricultural and industrial economies. He 
draws attention to the similarity of present day foragers and agriculturalists, 
rural peoples, living on die periphery of centralised urban-based capitalist 
economies, to the position of developing countries vis-a-vis die developed 
world. Recognising diat the relationship between die developed and 
underdeveloped world, and likewise diat between the centralised urban 
sector and rural sectors within one country, are relationships of oppression, 
inequality and exploitation, he examines what role human service workers 
can play in ameliorating this situation. He argues that if such workers are not 
conscious of the reality of this exploitative economic and cultural relationship, 
dien they will by default serve to promote die process of exploitation 
by assisting people to adapt passively to the loss of their land, to family 
and cultural breakdown, and to impoverishment in general.