Colonialism and development in the contemporary world

POLITICALGEOGRAPHY, Vol. 11, No. 5, September 1992,514-519

Book reviews Colonialism

in the Conterr-

number

of

and M. J. Heffernan

industry

remained

and Development

poray

World,

C. Dixon

(eds),

Mansell,

London

and New York,

book with an unusually

of quality and thematic

papers were first presented the Historical Research

Geographers examine

of

and Developing

the

Institute

in 1989. The books

the geographical

colonialism velopment drawn

is to

Third-World

and processes.

are strongly

British

objective

de-

Case-studies

from Africa and Asia reveal

patterns

Areas

of

impact of European

on contemporary patterns

unity. The

at a joint meeting of

Geography

Groups

that these

shaped by imperialism

its various forms (colonialism, ism, informal colonialism,

in

internal colonial-

neo-colonialism,

sub-

imperialism). a

cursory

introduction

editors, the book appropriately sweeping

legacy

but cogent

of imperialism.

tures,

processes,

ist economy. vortex’

mechanisms

upon

Waller-

and movements the world capitalof the ‘institutional

households,

and states interact

on the

the broad struc-

and reproduce

in which

classes,

(functionally)

peoples

to reproduce

the world capitalist system is particularly The

following

six chapters

raphical dimensions colonialism

and imperialism.

contemporary

nance

and dependence that South

theoretical

contribution

in his

Jonathan between

patterns

of

during

Africa’s neighbors mic independence

empire’

labor the

discussion

Crush’s

labor

continuity Even

Africa have

on this topic, Simon makes a

siderable region.

Africa. He

Although geog-

South

the ‘South African colonial

ex-

domi-

military and political

the region.

written extensively

of

is a sub-imperialist

and outside

sub-imperialism.

David Simon

in southern

Africa

might to dominate inside

on geog-

forms of regional

power that uses economic, raphers

focus

lucid.

of the African experience

amines argues

the

chapter

Drawing

His discussion

by

begins with Peter

stein’s work, Taylor delineates which produce

in

the

mining

constant.

why the mines and supplier

S. Gould similarly labor

between

Crush

states are

chapter reveals

colonial

con-

and post-

migration 1980s

of on

in the

when

South

sought to gain greater econofrom the apartheid

state, the

examines

peripheral

the flow of skilled and core

areas, but

this time in the case of colonial Kenya. He shows how,

despite

American ment

the

impressive

efforts

Friends Mission to promote

in the

workers

Reserves,

migrated

employment. of skilled

educated

of

the

develop-

and

to white-settler

skilled

areas to seek

This role of missions

labor to national

as suppliers

labor markets

is a

good example of the institutional vortex integrating core

and peripheral

level) described

areas (at the national

by Taylor.

The theme of continuity between colonial and contemporary

Following Taylor’s

explains

workers relatively

reluctant to break the ‘chains of migrancy’. W. T.

232 pp. This is a conference high degree

1990,

foreign

suasively

development

illustrated

discussion

of

Zimbabwe.

Although

covered

policies

by Jenny

land

conservation this topic

by Africanist historians,

considerable

new information

and administrative that underlay Peter Slowe,

Elliot

her

has been

in well

Elliot provides

on the legislative

frameworks

drawing out ‘contrasting

per-

in

policies

and institutions

state interventions by contrast,

is

in this area.

is less successful

approaches

in

to develop-

ment’ in the West African nation of Guinea. His chapter lacks the specificity to make any meaningful

and nuance needed comparison

between the post-colonial development policies of SCkou Tour6 and the pre-colonial Mandinka and Futa Jallon polities. Michael Heffernan and Keith Sutton examine the impact of French colonial rule on rural settlement patterns in Algeria over the period 183061987. Their data show a dramatic transformation of the countryside in which dispersed homesteads and small villages were replaced by nucleated settlements under successive colonial and post-colonial governments. Resettlement polices were harshest during the War of Independence (1954-61) when an estimated 50 percent

of the rural population

The authors conclude continue conducive

was displaced.

that nucleated settlements

to be favored because to the interests

they are more

of capitalist

agricul-

Book reviews

515

ture (e.g., access to labor) and to the surveillance

could

of the population.

cumstances

Stuart Corbridge’s between

chapter examines

indigenous

post-colonial

states over access

of, land in Jharkhand northeast

Local

control

of the state’s

weak

region. The contemporary and favors

the

rapid

manufacturing. the

hands

forest

control

presence

growth

of

in the

state is much stronger

Local political

‘tyranny

effective

of mining groups

of the forests

but

Connell

reveals

of

the

decolonization,

periphery

relations

A comparison

it is not easy to discern in these

the

tensions

that one expects to find in the colonial

encounter.

adjustments,

But as a collection

a general

statement

on

the

Third

nation-state,

and development

centerstrategies.

of French, American

World,

this

of the

The Shadow State: Government

The last chapter by Chris Dixon and Michael state of Thailand

R. Welch, The

New York,

evoke images of community

self-reliance,

participation

President

Bush has tried to tap into these values

of

to combat social problems

change

(Burma

and

conclude

‘Thailand was a colony in everything

ities

in

neighbors that

but name’.

Peter Taylor’s points on the legacy of they argue that it was not colonialchanges wrought by

which help to explain

between

colonized

and

the similar-

The strength continuities

of this book is its emphasis

between

the

colonial

and

colonial worlds. If there is a weakness, be

the

and administrative government

Eurocentric

view

on

post-

it tends to

that dominates

the

agencies.

the voluntary institution

sector

and policymakers,

dating

mediating

the state and the individual

to the proper

functioning

of the

process. R. Welch

State: Govemment

in her book,

challenges

Transition,

the autonomous,

%e Shadow

and the Voluntary Sector in these prevailing

independent

she argues

views of

non-profit

sector.

that the voluntary

sector,

chapters. Rarely do the actions of local groups or

especially

movements

appear

‘a shadow state’ which is heavily dependent

post-colonial

policies.

missing

in Gould’s

to

influence

For example, and Elliot’s

was the response

of small-scale

versus large-scale

farmers

cies in Zimbabwe? migrant

laborers

change

in the

Asian polities colonial

or

Africans are

chapters.

What

peasant farmers

to conservation

poli-

How did the remittances affect the process

reserves? too often

policies.

colonial

Similarly, ‘respond’

To what extent

policies the outcome

of

of agrarian south-east or ‘react’ to were

these

of what colonial authorities

by

who have viewed

as an important

between

and critical

fulfilled

In so doing, Bush follows

a long line of scholars

Instead,

to

and assume financial

tasks previously

back to at least de Tocqueville,

Jennifer

territories.

effort

‘1000 points of light’ across America

democratic

non-colonized

and

process.

and goals with his widely-publicized

the

economic

neighborliness,

in the democratic

encourage

colonized

286pp.,

624.95 (paper).

to the book. They compare

Thailand with its formerly

and the Volun1990,

Center,

is a fitting conclusion

imperialism

fine

Foundation

citizen

and Pacific.

ism itself but the economic

a

taly Sector in Transition, Jennifer

responsibility,

imperialism,

is

Univevsity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Voluntary agencies

Echoing

book

and British

islan’d territories

Indochina)

geog-

and imperialism

Thomas J. Bassett

ties with

and

that seeks to make

contribution.

of colonial

aspects

and

about the enduring

raphical imprint of colonialism

offers insights into the maintenance

spatial

contradictions

posses-

about the process

Parnwell on the non-colonized

and cir-

control? With

studies

possessions Caribbean

resistance

and Robert

world while asking

what their existence

some exceptions,

local

metropolitan

is now in the

survey the survival of colonial

sions in the contemporary

given

beyond

and

are resist-

developmentalism’

of the state. John

Aldrich

over

was greater during the colonial period

because

ing

to, and control

(‘the land of the forests’) in

India.

resources

struggles

groups and the colonial and

achieve

in the social welfare field, has become on

the state for funding and often very constrained in its ability to offer alternatives This is a very important which

calls

government

attention

to

to state policy.

and timely argument ways

in which

can utilize the non-profit

the

sector to

achieve public purposes. In

the

provides the

first

chapter

an overview

non-profit

sector

of

the

book,

Welch

of the various theories and their

relevance

of to

recent public policy trends such as privatization.