the imperialism on which it rests, will not disappear from South Africa simply through the turning of the other cheek and loving one's neighbour - or even less, one's exploiters and oppressors. This is a formula to maintain the existing order of things. By trying to harmonise and recon- cile the antagonistic and irreconcilable, Davenport objectively wills the South African people to passivity in the face of exploitation and oppression. For all his subjective dislike of what he terms "an avowedly unjust and violent society", objectively the entire thrust of his book and his approach to history places him squarely on the side of those who, in the final analysis, defend this brutal society. One can only be thankful that the South African masses no longer seem to accept such unctuous advice. DAN O'MEARA NOTES: 1. A collection of some of the earlier of these Marxist writings will be published in M. Legassick & H. Wolpe (eds), Class, Race and Develop- ment in South Africa, (Heinemann, 1979?). ~ 2. N.J. van Warmelo, Preliminary Survey of the Bantu Tribes of Southern Africa, (Pretoria, 1935), part 3 p. ^9. ~ UT A FIT 1 NOTES One of the most striking features of the campus at the beginning of the first term of the 1979/80 academic year was the presence of many more women students than had been the case during previous years. There was a 100% increase in first year women students in 1979/80 compared with 1978/79, a very encouraging development, but as yet unexplained. Women's issues came to the fore, as well. BRALUP held a workshop on women's studies and development from September 24-th to 28th. The participants numbering over 50 (men also) included three categories of people: firstly, those who had done research on any of a number of women's issues; secondly, those who worked directly with women in a service capacity or were instrumental in influencing policy-making with regard to women; and thirdly those who were interested in eliminating the subordi- nation of women who had one of another creative talents or worked in 261 i§tass media and could thereby be directly involved in a creative way, as well as projecting to the public a progressive view of the role of women in Tanzanian development. Forty-five papers were presented, centering around the following themes : Women and Rural Development Women and Urban Development Women and Reproduction Women and Ideology Women's Studies in Tanzania lively and searching discussions ensued which were grounded in the task of illuminating issues and generating an informational base which would facilitate both the mobilization and organizational work of UWT , and the work of policy makers and im pi em enters. Two action documents were compiled and approved by the workshop gathering during the final two days. The first document suggested future research areas. The second document suggested forms and means of research dissemination. These documents as well as summaries of the discussions will later be made available as 'Conference Proceedings' by BRALUP. J The Social Science Conference (see Utafiti Notes in Vol. 4. 1) and tfie Women's Studies Workshop marked the beginning and the end of the first term, but discussion and debate prevailed throughout the term in the various departmental seminars. The following are some of the papers given in the different departments. History - The History Department seminars continued to draw the attendance of people from many disciplines. Historical case studies were fewer than usual but included: Mbwiliza's The Hoe and the Stick: A Political Economy of the Heru Kingdom Graham's Peasant Production and Organisation in Contemporary Tanzania: A Preliminary Report on Trends and Strategies of Development in the Southern Highlands Technology and industrialization in the rural context was a new and interesting aspect of historical discussion triggered by: Schmidt's Advanced Iron Technology in Tanzania Kaijage's Tanzania Rural Industrialization in Historical Perspective Theoretical papers presented included: Mlahagwa's The Problem of Method in Historical Reconstruction 1 Gibbon s Imperialism and the National Question: The Irish Case 262 The latter paper offered many new insights in light of the previous discussions about imperialism in past years. BRALUP - Bralup initiated a seminar series in 1979 aimed at giving a forum to its various researchers to discuss their findings with fellow researchers as well as other interested parties hailing from other departments at the University and/ or Ministries. The seminar topics were extremely heterogeneous, but all of them sharing the underlying theme of rural development. Studies on various aspects of the peasantry included: Bryceson's Peasant Food Production and Food Supply in Relation to the Historical Development of Commodity Production in Pre-colonial and Colonial Tanganyika Kjaerby's Agricultural Productivity and SurI?lus Production in Tanzania In the field of rural wat(~j' development, an area BRALUP it; well known for, the following papers were given: Stahl, Sachak and Mkusa's The \"Vanging'ombe Rural Water Supply Project Mujwahuzi's Rural Water Supply in Dodoma Region Ngana's Regional Flood Analysis: A Technique of Estimating Annual Floods with Limited Hydraulic Data The remaining papers wel'C varied: King's Rukwa Soils King's The Value of !