Poverty and interventions cases from developing countries edited by Leen Boer, Dieke Buijs and Benno Galjart university of Leiden, institute of cultural and social studies; Leiden development studies no. 6, 1985
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230070113 |
| Author | Carole Rakodi |
| Published date | 01 January 1987 |
| Date | 01 January 1987 |
Book
Reviews
113
administrative systems which are working neither efficiently nor equitably, while solutions
which tackle problems of shelter while ignoring the urban land market are dismissed as
ineffective and inappropriate. Throughout, the book! is illustrated with up-to-date examples
of outstanding problems and inappropriate and unsuccessful programmes and projects, as
well as positive policies. Examples in each case are taken from rich as well as poor countries
from all parts of the world. Although the disparity of power between the urban poor and
urban elite, and their differential relationships with processes
of
municipal administration
and policy-making, is acknowledged as being at the root of the problems and policy failures,
my only quibble with the book’s conclusions is that these power relationships are not really
taken seriously when discussing the preferred alternative basis for urban policy: priority to
basic needs satisfaction, participatory planning, tolerance of the informal economy and
prominence to employment generation policies, better urban local government and
appropriate financial institutions and urban laws.
McAuslan has produced a masterly review
of
urban land policy and practice around the
world, while generally avoiding the dangers of overgeneralization and fully acknowledging
the diversity and complexity
of
real-life situations. His style is readable and the book brief
(136
pages), well illustrated and affordable (at
f3.50).
He has successfully performed the
difficult feat
of
writing a book which is both accessible
to
the interested layperson and
valuable, as an introductory overview, to the student, professional and policy-maker.
CAROLE RAKODI
Department
of
Town
Planning,
University
of
Wales Institute
of
Science
and
Technology
POVERTY AND INTERVENTIONS CASES FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Edited
by
Leen Boer, Dieke
Buijs
and Benno
Galjart
University of Leiden, Institute of Cultural and Social Studies; Leiden Development
Studies No.
6,
1985
This rather disparate collection of nine short papers contains a number of analyses, written
by sociologists, of development projects, programmes and approaches intended
to
alleviate
poverty. It is one of a series of publications in which the results
of
a
research project on
popular participation in development projects have been presented. While the earlier
publications of the Institute (Development Studies Nos.
1
and
5
in Dutch and No.
2
in
English) focused on ideal types
of
participatory development projects, the papers in this
collection seek reasons why
so
many efforts
to
benefit poor people have failed.
Four
of the papers are general in nature. Postel’s paper
on
‘The myth
of
the male
breadwinner’ quotes evidence from a variety of countries to illustrate the shortcomings
of
common assumptions with respect to family structure, gender and the division of labour.
Buijs and Grijpstra discuss the role of non-governmental organizations in development co-
operation, examining in turn some of the strengths and ambivalences in the position
of
donor
NGOs and NGOs in developing countries. The remaining two general papers are intended as
conceptual contributions to the analysis
of
why development programmes and projects
so
often fail to benefit the poor. Both papers are disappointing. Boer’s paper is a rather
inconclusive reconsideration of the ‘culture of poverty’ concept, which he feels was discarded
prematurely in the
1970s,
while Van Voorhoven, following a somewhat unfocused discussion
of
alternative theories
of
development, each of which he regards as unsatisfactory because of
its Eurocentricity, ends with
a
plea for research into indigenous knowledge systems.
The remaining papers are
a
series
of
more valuable evaluative case studies by researchers
connected with the Institute of Cultural and Social Studies. They deal with
a
variety of
development projects and programmes, including the ‘development’ of tribal peoples (the
Mentawaian islanders
of
Indonesia), agrarian reform and collective agriculture (in two
regions of Colombia), self-management of a productive enterprise (the People’s Industries
of
the Tuxpan region of Mexico), and non-formal educational programmes for rural
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