- Email: [email protected]
Reference: Information Access
World Development, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 535-538.1988. Pergamon Press plc. Printed in Great Britain.
Book Notes GUY GRAN
Book Review Editor number of the academic, political, and technical titles look immediately useful for development Agricultural Research Centres: A World Direc- . studies; note especially the newsletters of the foreign area studies associations. To pursue a tory of Organizations and Programmes !198$, 8th more transformational literature consider the edn.). Harlow, UK: Longman and Detroit: Gale 3,200 items in the 1986-7 Whole Again Resource Research Co. (1,138 pp. in 2 volumes, cloth, Guide ($24.95 from SourceNet, Box 6767, Santa $395/set). Barbara, CA 93160). One is sure that much of One of the classics in this genre, this guide to importance escapes all current reference tools; technical research has grown to more than 10,000 for example, area studies associations have their entries. Of that figure about 20% are primary own specialized newsletters, networks essential organizations; the others are divisions, departfor quality area studies work. ments, and laboratories. Entries provide contact information and a sense of scale, activities, and @irectory of Research Grants 1987 (1987). publications. Indexes are provided for name and subject focus. The results are certainly useful for Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press (981.pp., paperback, %llO), technical networking and research, but future editions should seek to overcome some basic One avenue to -further funding for developlimitations. In the current format, the price is ment research or education is through foundaprohibitive; paperback regional volumes seem tions and grants. This directory, the 12th of what apropos. Industrial countries are far better has become an annual, is one of the largest one surveyed than those in the South. Limiting the volume guides. It lists 5,790 programs in alphalisting to technical research on agriculture enbetical order. For each grant, prize, or scholarcourages a notion that technology alone can solve ship the entry provides a description of research agricultural needs. Inclusion of corporate listings focus and limitations as well as basic application builds bridges to agro-business. Exclusion of information. Subject and organizational indexes interdisciplinary rural development research inallow access. One can get some idea of the stitutions cuts technical researchers off from in- chances for funding on peace and development stitutional and cultural learning essential for by exploring a number of regional headings, ineffective agricultural practice. ternational affairs and studies, peace, economics, political science and others. Most awards are tied to academic stages or to institutional affiliation. Darnay, Brigitte and Nimchuk, John, eds. Independent social change research in North (1987, 3rd edn.) Newsletters Directory Detroit: America or abroad does not fit well in this Gale Research Co. (1,162 pp. cloth, 6140) organizational universe; neither development As several guides to periodicals have been nor democracy appeared as a subject heading. noted, it seems reasonable to add one on news- But for those building skills in traditional instituletters. This is the third effort of an Americantional locations, this will be an essential guide to focused survey first published in 1966. Over possible sources of financial support. 8:OOO titles are organized under 32 topical chapters. An average entry provides basic cost, Podson, H. V., ed. (1987,4th edn.) The Intersize, format, circulation, and access information; national Foundation Directory. Detroit: Gale Rebrief descriptions of focus and editorial policy are search Co. (434 pp., cloth. S95). also included. Title, publisher, and detailed subcosmopolitan and Smaller but more ject indexes complete the work. Sampling indidevelopmentally-focused than the preceding cates an effort to cover the center of the culture volume, this directory compiles those institutions in all areas of human activity. Only a small REFERENCE:
INFORMATION
ACCESS
535
WORLD
536
DEVELOPMENT
that operate internationally in one of several ways. Most typically such foundations fund foreign studies or travel or make cross-national grants. The 770 entries come from nearly 50 countries, most from the industrial countries of the West. Foundations are listed alphabetically by country. One learns briefly of activities, publications, finances, and principal officers. The index of main activities is, however, the clearest indication of the very great utility of this directory. Development studies is a major category with about 148 entries. Most of the other categories have some development potential. Further empowering are the inclusion of foundation centers and coordinating bodies and a bibliography of other sources. In sum, this may be the best place to start grant research and it is certainly an important addition to any international studies library. Elster, Robert, ed. (1987) The Fucufry Directory of Higher Education 1988, 12 volumes. Detroit: Gale Research Co. (700-900 cloth, $785 set/$85-$150 each).
pp. each,
One efficient guide to North American academics comes from membership listings of the discipline or area studies associations; some of these are published. An alternative is this new multivolume series of which this reviewer sampled Volume One (business, economics, and law) and Volume Eleven (social sciences). Data were gathered through questionnaires to some 3,100 American and 220 Canadian colleges; the total number of people listed is said to be 623,000. An entry contains name, address and one or more subject or course specializations. A name index is available only with a set purchase. No such effort could be complete; working from course lists and the responses of department chairs produces inevitable omissions. But this first effort at an overall faculty directory with course listings is certainly the current reference tool of choice. Such a reference work, however, leaves these faculty members open to all kinds of easy contact -good, bad and indifferent - and something to ponder in the contemporary era of junk mail. ed. (1987) The Grassroots Mid-Atlantic Region. Pomfret, CT: Topsfield Foundations, Inc. (214 pp., paperback, $10.50). Graseck,
data, scale and focus of activities (local, state, or national), and an organizational description of a few lines. Indexes are provided for several questions: constituency served; primary issue; resources provided; organizational names; and scale of services. The listing is restricted to groups working in areas of peace, disarmament and international security. It is the most extensive and current assemblage of its kind, but it shares the limitations of most American peace efforts. Allowing the war system to define the framework of discussion and organization defeats the kind of systems thinking necessary to build the synthesis of peace, development, democracy, post-patriarchal culture, and environmental responsibility which, only together, can be the basis for a sustainable society. Union
of International
Associations
(1987)
Yearbook of International Organizations 1987188, 3 volumes. New York: K. G. Saur (1,500-1,600
pp. each, cloth, $250 each). The first volume is the 24th edition of a standard reference work first published in 1908; the second and third are the fifth editions of volumes first published in 1983. Together they form the largest such study in print. The amount of data is overwhelming. Volume One begins with a title and key word index (ca. 110,000 items) to the 3,897 intergovernmental and 23,248 nongovernmental institutions listed. The bulk of the volume groups them under one of 13 categories and provides ca. 1,000 pages of details on an unknown but large percentage. Volume Two redivides the 27,000 groups by country of secretariats and of membership. Volume Three classes them by subject and regional concerns. The work as a whole requires good eyesight and some time for acclimatization. It is certainly the most useful way to get basic data on thousands of little known groups as well as on the United Nations system and other major organizations. While the sum is impressive, it is also a bit disturbing to see that the global community develops ever more communication while so many local communities remain so organizationally under- or maldeveloped and thus marginalized.
Susan,
Peace Directory -
The American peace movement continues to evolve. This title is a sample of a new 10 volume networking tool covering all 50 states. Prices range from $6.25 to $16.00 per region. Entries are divided by state with a brief political orientation to each state. An average entry lists access
United Nations,
DESI/DPI
nal Directory of Development
(1987) InternatioJournalists.
New
York: United Nations (1,273 pp., paperback, $25). The Division of Economic and Social Information and Development Forum here offer a first effort to map the growing field of development journalism. The questionnaire method naturally creates uneven results, given, particularly, the
BOOK
varied nature of press freedom from one country to another. But in brief form here are 1.100 vitas, with West Germany, the United Kingdom and the .United States most often represented. The volume also contains a subject and regional cross-reference grid, lists of journalists’ organizations and schools, development related radio networks and news agencies, and UN information services and centers. In its current form this is an important networking tool which can be improved in future editions. It is important that scholars and practitioners seek to help the inhabitants of this difficult profession to overcome the mystifications of other journalists about the Third World - most notably the naive amateurism, arrogance and ethnocentrism so many foreign correspondents of major western media bring to bear in their occasional forays into development issues. Western editors, inter ah, would do well to see this array of alternatives. Woy, James, ed. (1986, 6th edn.) Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources. Detroit: Gale Research
Co. (878 pp., cloth, $188).
Among several such guides in recent years, this new edition of this encyclopedia is now the reference work of choice. (A possible competition comes in late 1987 or early 1988 from Macmillan, UK.) Woy and his colleagues cover ca. 1,000 business topics in varying detail. The major listings include: abstract services, bibliographies, directories, handbooks, online data bases, periodicals and newsletters, research centers, statistical sources, trade associations, professional groups, general works and other sources. Publishing data and telephone numbers speed access. Naturally there are gaps, but, by pursuing these suggestions and some of the reference people involved, one can find out about other expensive newsletters and newer sources. It is, however, a very American-centered reference work, and the reviewer hopes to be alerted to comparable works from Europe and other regions. Little of this volume deals with international themes. Few of the sources are foreign. With such a mental map US corporations are never likely to be very competitive in international trade again.
OF NOTE: THE MIDDLE A,MERICAS Plant, Roger (1987) Sugar and Modern Sfuvcry: A Tale of Two Countries. London: Zed Books Ltd. (US distributor, Humanities Press), (177 pp., cloth/paperback, %37.50/%11.50). Although the economy of the Dominican Republic has long been based on exporting sugar its
NOTES
537
citizens disdain cane cutting as slave’s work. Alas, history repeats itself. Facing chronic seasonal labor shortages, planters and the government conspired informally then formally to import Haitian migrants throughout this century. Since the 1950s and likely before, the Haitian military has been selling a minimum of 10,000-14,000 of its “citizens” per year to its neighbor. Work conditions, recruiting process and consistent use of force are those of slavery; control of food prices and cane weighing leaves workers typically cheated of their pittance. A cadre of permanent workers assures local stability; state political needs for docile rural conditions, planters’ needs for cheap labor, and opportunities for graft by the military assure continuity. Efforts by the Anti Slavery Society and the International Labor Organization have had limited impact through 1986. The author’s field research on sugar plantations in six other countries found conditions nearly as appalling. Liberal reformist conclusions are oddly at variance with the compelling social analysis preceding. Such a culture of violence is incompatible with democracy or development. Much sober reflection is in order on how and why western aid agencies, governments, journalists and corporations have helped to maintain such plantation systems. Ruchwarger. Gary (1987) People in Power: Forging a Grassroots Democracy in Nicaragua. South Hadley. MA: Bergin & Garvey Pub. (340 pp., cloth/paperback, fi34.951S15.95). All aspects of Nicaragua are a terrain of violent intellectual struggle in the international community; the degree of democracy is the heart of the political war. Reports on substantial field work are the most welcome and optimal contribution. Ruchwarger spent much of 1984-86 studying firsthand the internal workings of the four major mass organizations: women’s associations (AMNLAE); neighborhood associations (CDS); the farmers’ and ranchers’ union (UNAG); and the industrial workers’ federation (CST). Much of his research was in and around Esteli. In group meetings and interviews he found schools of democracy and instruments of popular power, with citizens having more than one avenue to participate. The result is far more actual democratic practice than in most of the industrial countries. Ruchwarger is a sensitive critic, painting the unevenness of local institutional development and acutely aware of how far there is to go to end gender-based economic and social roles. His work is impressive at many levels, most notably as a case study of local democratic practice and of how local groups affect state policy.
WORLD DEVELOPMENT
538 Sutherland, nomic
Success
Boulder, $17.95).
Anne (1986) Cuye Caulker: Ecoin a Belizean
CO: Westview.
Fishing
Village.
(153 pp., paperback,
The small island of Caye Caulker on the coast of Belize started with a relatively unstratified population, a non-intrusive state bureaucracy, an increasingly valuable export crop (lobster) and fairly equitable access to the productive resources (fishing). The idea for a fishing co-op was introduced by the government in the 1950s. It was only seized upon by local fishermen, however, when they were faced with a foreign mono-
poly in the lobster trade. Thereafter, the co-op got some modest outside help but developed primarily as a local initiative. Over 20 years co-op members have dramatically increased their incomes without changing the island culture or social structure or expanding social stratification. One learns much about how this locale combines a strong moral economy with a respect for personal independence and self-sufficiency. It is a useful contribution for beginning study, but comparative scholars will want more substantial treatment of co-operative dynamics.
Book Notes GUY GRAN
Book Review Editor number of the academic, political, and technical titles look immediately useful for development Agricultural Research Centres: A World Direc- . studies; note especially the newsletters of the foreign area studies associations. To pursue a tory of Organizations and Programmes !198$, 8th more transformational literature consider the edn.). Harlow, UK: Longman and Detroit: Gale 3,200 items in the 1986-7 Whole Again Resource Research Co. (1,138 pp. in 2 volumes, cloth, Guide ($24.95 from SourceNet, Box 6767, Santa $395/set). Barbara, CA 93160). One is sure that much of One of the classics in this genre, this guide to importance escapes all current reference tools; technical research has grown to more than 10,000 for example, area studies associations have their entries. Of that figure about 20% are primary own specialized newsletters, networks essential organizations; the others are divisions, departfor quality area studies work. ments, and laboratories. Entries provide contact information and a sense of scale, activities, and @irectory of Research Grants 1987 (1987). publications. Indexes are provided for name and subject focus. The results are certainly useful for Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press (981.pp., paperback, %llO), technical networking and research, but future editions should seek to overcome some basic One avenue to -further funding for developlimitations. In the current format, the price is ment research or education is through foundaprohibitive; paperback regional volumes seem tions and grants. This directory, the 12th of what apropos. Industrial countries are far better has become an annual, is one of the largest one surveyed than those in the South. Limiting the volume guides. It lists 5,790 programs in alphalisting to technical research on agriculture enbetical order. For each grant, prize, or scholarcourages a notion that technology alone can solve ship the entry provides a description of research agricultural needs. Inclusion of corporate listings focus and limitations as well as basic application builds bridges to agro-business. Exclusion of information. Subject and organizational indexes interdisciplinary rural development research inallow access. One can get some idea of the stitutions cuts technical researchers off from in- chances for funding on peace and development stitutional and cultural learning essential for by exploring a number of regional headings, ineffective agricultural practice. ternational affairs and studies, peace, economics, political science and others. Most awards are tied to academic stages or to institutional affiliation. Darnay, Brigitte and Nimchuk, John, eds. Independent social change research in North (1987, 3rd edn.) Newsletters Directory Detroit: America or abroad does not fit well in this Gale Research Co. (1,162 pp. cloth, 6140) organizational universe; neither development As several guides to periodicals have been nor democracy appeared as a subject heading. noted, it seems reasonable to add one on news- But for those building skills in traditional instituletters. This is the third effort of an Americantional locations, this will be an essential guide to focused survey first published in 1966. Over possible sources of financial support. 8:OOO titles are organized under 32 topical chapters. An average entry provides basic cost, Podson, H. V., ed. (1987,4th edn.) The Intersize, format, circulation, and access information; national Foundation Directory. Detroit: Gale Rebrief descriptions of focus and editorial policy are search Co. (434 pp., cloth. S95). also included. Title, publisher, and detailed subcosmopolitan and Smaller but more ject indexes complete the work. Sampling indidevelopmentally-focused than the preceding cates an effort to cover the center of the culture volume, this directory compiles those institutions in all areas of human activity. Only a small REFERENCE:
INFORMATION
ACCESS
535
WORLD
536
DEVELOPMENT
that operate internationally in one of several ways. Most typically such foundations fund foreign studies or travel or make cross-national grants. The 770 entries come from nearly 50 countries, most from the industrial countries of the West. Foundations are listed alphabetically by country. One learns briefly of activities, publications, finances, and principal officers. The index of main activities is, however, the clearest indication of the very great utility of this directory. Development studies is a major category with about 148 entries. Most of the other categories have some development potential. Further empowering are the inclusion of foundation centers and coordinating bodies and a bibliography of other sources. In sum, this may be the best place to start grant research and it is certainly an important addition to any international studies library. Elster, Robert, ed. (1987) The Fucufry Directory of Higher Education 1988, 12 volumes. Detroit: Gale Research Co. (700-900 cloth, $785 set/$85-$150 each).
pp. each,
One efficient guide to North American academics comes from membership listings of the discipline or area studies associations; some of these are published. An alternative is this new multivolume series of which this reviewer sampled Volume One (business, economics, and law) and Volume Eleven (social sciences). Data were gathered through questionnaires to some 3,100 American and 220 Canadian colleges; the total number of people listed is said to be 623,000. An entry contains name, address and one or more subject or course specializations. A name index is available only with a set purchase. No such effort could be complete; working from course lists and the responses of department chairs produces inevitable omissions. But this first effort at an overall faculty directory with course listings is certainly the current reference tool of choice. Such a reference work, however, leaves these faculty members open to all kinds of easy contact -good, bad and indifferent - and something to ponder in the contemporary era of junk mail. ed. (1987) The Grassroots Mid-Atlantic Region. Pomfret, CT: Topsfield Foundations, Inc. (214 pp., paperback, $10.50). Graseck,
data, scale and focus of activities (local, state, or national), and an organizational description of a few lines. Indexes are provided for several questions: constituency served; primary issue; resources provided; organizational names; and scale of services. The listing is restricted to groups working in areas of peace, disarmament and international security. It is the most extensive and current assemblage of its kind, but it shares the limitations of most American peace efforts. Allowing the war system to define the framework of discussion and organization defeats the kind of systems thinking necessary to build the synthesis of peace, development, democracy, post-patriarchal culture, and environmental responsibility which, only together, can be the basis for a sustainable society. Union
of International
Associations
(1987)
Yearbook of International Organizations 1987188, 3 volumes. New York: K. G. Saur (1,500-1,600
pp. each, cloth, $250 each). The first volume is the 24th edition of a standard reference work first published in 1908; the second and third are the fifth editions of volumes first published in 1983. Together they form the largest such study in print. The amount of data is overwhelming. Volume One begins with a title and key word index (ca. 110,000 items) to the 3,897 intergovernmental and 23,248 nongovernmental institutions listed. The bulk of the volume groups them under one of 13 categories and provides ca. 1,000 pages of details on an unknown but large percentage. Volume Two redivides the 27,000 groups by country of secretariats and of membership. Volume Three classes them by subject and regional concerns. The work as a whole requires good eyesight and some time for acclimatization. It is certainly the most useful way to get basic data on thousands of little known groups as well as on the United Nations system and other major organizations. While the sum is impressive, it is also a bit disturbing to see that the global community develops ever more communication while so many local communities remain so organizationally under- or maldeveloped and thus marginalized.
Susan,
Peace Directory -
The American peace movement continues to evolve. This title is a sample of a new 10 volume networking tool covering all 50 states. Prices range from $6.25 to $16.00 per region. Entries are divided by state with a brief political orientation to each state. An average entry lists access
United Nations,
DESI/DPI
nal Directory of Development
(1987) InternatioJournalists.
New
York: United Nations (1,273 pp., paperback, $25). The Division of Economic and Social Information and Development Forum here offer a first effort to map the growing field of development journalism. The questionnaire method naturally creates uneven results, given, particularly, the
BOOK
varied nature of press freedom from one country to another. But in brief form here are 1.100 vitas, with West Germany, the United Kingdom and the .United States most often represented. The volume also contains a subject and regional cross-reference grid, lists of journalists’ organizations and schools, development related radio networks and news agencies, and UN information services and centers. In its current form this is an important networking tool which can be improved in future editions. It is important that scholars and practitioners seek to help the inhabitants of this difficult profession to overcome the mystifications of other journalists about the Third World - most notably the naive amateurism, arrogance and ethnocentrism so many foreign correspondents of major western media bring to bear in their occasional forays into development issues. Western editors, inter ah, would do well to see this array of alternatives. Woy, James, ed. (1986, 6th edn.) Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources. Detroit: Gale Research
Co. (878 pp., cloth, $188).
Among several such guides in recent years, this new edition of this encyclopedia is now the reference work of choice. (A possible competition comes in late 1987 or early 1988 from Macmillan, UK.) Woy and his colleagues cover ca. 1,000 business topics in varying detail. The major listings include: abstract services, bibliographies, directories, handbooks, online data bases, periodicals and newsletters, research centers, statistical sources, trade associations, professional groups, general works and other sources. Publishing data and telephone numbers speed access. Naturally there are gaps, but, by pursuing these suggestions and some of the reference people involved, one can find out about other expensive newsletters and newer sources. It is, however, a very American-centered reference work, and the reviewer hopes to be alerted to comparable works from Europe and other regions. Little of this volume deals with international themes. Few of the sources are foreign. With such a mental map US corporations are never likely to be very competitive in international trade again.
OF NOTE: THE MIDDLE A,MERICAS Plant, Roger (1987) Sugar and Modern Sfuvcry: A Tale of Two Countries. London: Zed Books Ltd. (US distributor, Humanities Press), (177 pp., cloth/paperback, %37.50/%11.50). Although the economy of the Dominican Republic has long been based on exporting sugar its
NOTES
537
citizens disdain cane cutting as slave’s work. Alas, history repeats itself. Facing chronic seasonal labor shortages, planters and the government conspired informally then formally to import Haitian migrants throughout this century. Since the 1950s and likely before, the Haitian military has been selling a minimum of 10,000-14,000 of its “citizens” per year to its neighbor. Work conditions, recruiting process and consistent use of force are those of slavery; control of food prices and cane weighing leaves workers typically cheated of their pittance. A cadre of permanent workers assures local stability; state political needs for docile rural conditions, planters’ needs for cheap labor, and opportunities for graft by the military assure continuity. Efforts by the Anti Slavery Society and the International Labor Organization have had limited impact through 1986. The author’s field research on sugar plantations in six other countries found conditions nearly as appalling. Liberal reformist conclusions are oddly at variance with the compelling social analysis preceding. Such a culture of violence is incompatible with democracy or development. Much sober reflection is in order on how and why western aid agencies, governments, journalists and corporations have helped to maintain such plantation systems. Ruchwarger. Gary (1987) People in Power: Forging a Grassroots Democracy in Nicaragua. South Hadley. MA: Bergin & Garvey Pub. (340 pp., cloth/paperback, fi34.951S15.95). All aspects of Nicaragua are a terrain of violent intellectual struggle in the international community; the degree of democracy is the heart of the political war. Reports on substantial field work are the most welcome and optimal contribution. Ruchwarger spent much of 1984-86 studying firsthand the internal workings of the four major mass organizations: women’s associations (AMNLAE); neighborhood associations (CDS); the farmers’ and ranchers’ union (UNAG); and the industrial workers’ federation (CST). Much of his research was in and around Esteli. In group meetings and interviews he found schools of democracy and instruments of popular power, with citizens having more than one avenue to participate. The result is far more actual democratic practice than in most of the industrial countries. Ruchwarger is a sensitive critic, painting the unevenness of local institutional development and acutely aware of how far there is to go to end gender-based economic and social roles. His work is impressive at many levels, most notably as a case study of local democratic practice and of how local groups affect state policy.
WORLD DEVELOPMENT
538 Sutherland, nomic
Success
Boulder, $17.95).
Anne (1986) Cuye Caulker: Ecoin a Belizean
CO: Westview.
Fishing
Village.
(153 pp., paperback,
The small island of Caye Caulker on the coast of Belize started with a relatively unstratified population, a non-intrusive state bureaucracy, an increasingly valuable export crop (lobster) and fairly equitable access to the productive resources (fishing). The idea for a fishing co-op was introduced by the government in the 1950s. It was only seized upon by local fishermen, however, when they were faced with a foreign mono-
poly in the lobster trade. Thereafter, the co-op got some modest outside help but developed primarily as a local initiative. Over 20 years co-op members have dramatically increased their incomes without changing the island culture or social structure or expanding social stratification. One learns much about how this locale combines a strong moral economy with a respect for personal independence and self-sufficiency. It is a useful contribution for beginning study, but comparative scholars will want more substantial treatment of co-operative dynamics.