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International African Institute Urbanisation Overspeed in Tropical Africa 1970-2000 by Guy Ankerl Review by: D. Potts Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 58, No. 4 (1988), pp. 512-513 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1160385 . Accessed: 14/06/2014 04:18 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Cambridge University Press and International African Institute are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 188.72.126.55 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:18:03 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Urbanisation Overspeed in Tropical Africa 1970-2000by Guy Ankerl

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Page 1: Urbanisation Overspeed in Tropical Africa 1970-2000by Guy Ankerl

International African Institute

Urbanisation Overspeed in Tropical Africa 1970-2000 by Guy AnkerlReview by: D. PottsAfrica: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 58, No. 4 (1988), pp. 512-513Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1160385 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 04:18

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Cambridge University Press and International African Institute are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,preserve and extend access to Africa: Journal of the International African Institute.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.55 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:18:03 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Urbanisation Overspeed in Tropical Africa 1970-2000by Guy Ankerl

SHORTER NOTICES SHORTER NOTICES SHORTER NOTICES SHORTER NOTICES

the negative side, there are too many typo- graphical errors. In addition, an incorrect map, which confuses the old administrative centre of Misahohe in Togo with Hohoe in Ghana, has been carried over from the first to the second edition.

PAUL NUGENT

Keele University

BETHWELL ALAN OGOT, Historical Dictionary of Kenya, African Historical Dictionaries No. 29. Metuchen, NJ and London: Scarecrow Press, 1981, 279 pp., ISBN 0 8108 14196.

The emphasis of Bethwell Alan Ogot's His- torical Dictionary of Kenya is on political personalities and on the post-independence period. Students of nationalism will find the biographical notes on the leading political activists from the 1940s and 1950s especially valuable, and the references to many prom- inent politicians in government since inde- pendence are also very useful. Kikuyu, Luo and Kamba 'nationalist' leaders from the colonial era are well represented, although those from other ethnic groups receive rather less attention.

If political biography is the strength of this compilation, then it has to be said that the coverage of several important, and perhaps controversial, historical events is weak. It is not the purpose of a historical dictionary to pose or to answer historical questions, but the problems involved in the transfer of lands at independence under the Million Acre Scheme surely deserve fuller explanation, and the female circumcision crisis should be included either as a distinct entry or under the description of the Church of Scotland Mission (whose actions precipi- tated events), while the infamous Lari mas- sacre during the emergency of the 1950s also merits a paragraph or two.

To accompany the main body of the dic- tionary, Professor Ogot has provided us with more than fifty pages of bibliography on Kenya (covering publications up to 1980) and appendices listing the commissioners and governors of colonial Kenya and the Kenya Cabinet of June 1980. A fuller intro- duction and a rather less 'select' chronolo- gical chart would have helped readers to grasp something of the shape and dynamic of Kenya's history. This dictionary will cer- tainly be an important acquisition for any reference library, although the tendency to- wards an emphasis on more contemporary events and personalities may require a re-

the negative side, there are too many typo- graphical errors. In addition, an incorrect map, which confuses the old administrative centre of Misahohe in Togo with Hohoe in Ghana, has been carried over from the first to the second edition.

PAUL NUGENT

Keele University

BETHWELL ALAN OGOT, Historical Dictionary of Kenya, African Historical Dictionaries No. 29. Metuchen, NJ and London: Scarecrow Press, 1981, 279 pp., ISBN 0 8108 14196.

The emphasis of Bethwell Alan Ogot's His- torical Dictionary of Kenya is on political personalities and on the post-independence period. Students of nationalism will find the biographical notes on the leading political activists from the 1940s and 1950s especially valuable, and the references to many prom- inent politicians in government since inde- pendence are also very useful. Kikuyu, Luo and Kamba 'nationalist' leaders from the colonial era are well represented, although those from other ethnic groups receive rather less attention.

If political biography is the strength of this compilation, then it has to be said that the coverage of several important, and perhaps controversial, historical events is weak. It is not the purpose of a historical dictionary to pose or to answer historical questions, but the problems involved in the transfer of lands at independence under the Million Acre Scheme surely deserve fuller explanation, and the female circumcision crisis should be included either as a distinct entry or under the description of the Church of Scotland Mission (whose actions precipi- tated events), while the infamous Lari mas- sacre during the emergency of the 1950s also merits a paragraph or two.

To accompany the main body of the dic- tionary, Professor Ogot has provided us with more than fifty pages of bibliography on Kenya (covering publications up to 1980) and appendices listing the commissioners and governors of colonial Kenya and the Kenya Cabinet of June 1980. A fuller intro- duction and a rather less 'select' chronolo- gical chart would have helped readers to grasp something of the shape and dynamic of Kenya's history. This dictionary will cer- tainly be an important acquisition for any reference library, although the tendency to- wards an emphasis on more contemporary events and personalities may require a re-

the negative side, there are too many typo- graphical errors. In addition, an incorrect map, which confuses the old administrative centre of Misahohe in Togo with Hohoe in Ghana, has been carried over from the first to the second edition.

PAUL NUGENT

Keele University

BETHWELL ALAN OGOT, Historical Dictionary of Kenya, African Historical Dictionaries No. 29. Metuchen, NJ and London: Scarecrow Press, 1981, 279 pp., ISBN 0 8108 14196.

The emphasis of Bethwell Alan Ogot's His- torical Dictionary of Kenya is on political personalities and on the post-independence period. Students of nationalism will find the biographical notes on the leading political activists from the 1940s and 1950s especially valuable, and the references to many prom- inent politicians in government since inde- pendence are also very useful. Kikuyu, Luo and Kamba 'nationalist' leaders from the colonial era are well represented, although those from other ethnic groups receive rather less attention.

If political biography is the strength of this compilation, then it has to be said that the coverage of several important, and perhaps controversial, historical events is weak. It is not the purpose of a historical dictionary to pose or to answer historical questions, but the problems involved in the transfer of lands at independence under the Million Acre Scheme surely deserve fuller explanation, and the female circumcision crisis should be included either as a distinct entry or under the description of the Church of Scotland Mission (whose actions precipi- tated events), while the infamous Lari mas- sacre during the emergency of the 1950s also merits a paragraph or two.

To accompany the main body of the dic- tionary, Professor Ogot has provided us with more than fifty pages of bibliography on Kenya (covering publications up to 1980) and appendices listing the commissioners and governors of colonial Kenya and the Kenya Cabinet of June 1980. A fuller intro- duction and a rather less 'select' chronolo- gical chart would have helped readers to grasp something of the shape and dynamic of Kenya's history. This dictionary will cer- tainly be an important acquisition for any reference library, although the tendency to- wards an emphasis on more contemporary events and personalities may require a re-

the negative side, there are too many typo- graphical errors. In addition, an incorrect map, which confuses the old administrative centre of Misahohe in Togo with Hohoe in Ghana, has been carried over from the first to the second edition.

PAUL NUGENT

Keele University

BETHWELL ALAN OGOT, Historical Dictionary of Kenya, African Historical Dictionaries No. 29. Metuchen, NJ and London: Scarecrow Press, 1981, 279 pp., ISBN 0 8108 14196.

The emphasis of Bethwell Alan Ogot's His- torical Dictionary of Kenya is on political personalities and on the post-independence period. Students of nationalism will find the biographical notes on the leading political activists from the 1940s and 1950s especially valuable, and the references to many prom- inent politicians in government since inde- pendence are also very useful. Kikuyu, Luo and Kamba 'nationalist' leaders from the colonial era are well represented, although those from other ethnic groups receive rather less attention.

If political biography is the strength of this compilation, then it has to be said that the coverage of several important, and perhaps controversial, historical events is weak. It is not the purpose of a historical dictionary to pose or to answer historical questions, but the problems involved in the transfer of lands at independence under the Million Acre Scheme surely deserve fuller explanation, and the female circumcision crisis should be included either as a distinct entry or under the description of the Church of Scotland Mission (whose actions precipi- tated events), while the infamous Lari mas- sacre during the emergency of the 1950s also merits a paragraph or two.

To accompany the main body of the dic- tionary, Professor Ogot has provided us with more than fifty pages of bibliography on Kenya (covering publications up to 1980) and appendices listing the commissioners and governors of colonial Kenya and the Kenya Cabinet of June 1980. A fuller intro- duction and a rather less 'select' chronolo- gical chart would have helped readers to grasp something of the shape and dynamic of Kenya's history. This dictionary will cer- tainly be an important acquisition for any reference library, although the tendency to- wards an emphasis on more contemporary events and personalities may require a re-

vised and enlarged second edition before too long.

DAVID ANDERSON

Birkbeck College, London

GUNILLA BJEREN, Migration to Shashemene: ethnicity, gender and occupation in urban Ethiopia. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1985, 291 pp., ISBN 91 71062459.

This monograph reports the research under- taken for a doctoral thesis, and in form and presentation it reflects the latter. Editing has been undertaken but more refinement and pruning would have been an advantage. The work is based on considerable Ethiopian field experience but this was gained in the 1970s. Consequently what is reported is to some extent (how much is not indicated) of historical interest. The enormous environ- mental, political, social and economic im- pacts of the last decade and a half are given only scant consideration in just over three pages. As a somewhat aged doctoral thesis the monograph has its merits in exploring in general and in specific terms the context and nature of migration to a small town in Ethiopia, in which particular attention is given to ethnicity, gender and occupation, but the overall picture for Shashemene which emerges is fragmentary and lacking in coherence. The logic of the ordering of material is not clear and is not explained by the author; the page given to 'organisation' does no more than list the chapters. Con- tribution to theory of rural/urban migration is limited, either to this phenomenon in Ethiopia in particular or more widely in Africa and other parts of the Third World. The latter is hardly surprising given that the majority of the references are of the same age as the content of the monograph, with little note of work published during the present decade. A thinner volume, half the length of the one reviewed, would have presented the contribution of Dr Bjergen much more effectively.

MANSELL PROTHERO

University of Liverpool

GUY ANKERL, Urbanisation Overspeed in Tro- pical Africa 1970-2000. Geneva: INU Press, 1986, 117 pp., $12.00, ISBN 2 88155 000 2.

vised and enlarged second edition before too long.

DAVID ANDERSON

Birkbeck College, London

GUNILLA BJEREN, Migration to Shashemene: ethnicity, gender and occupation in urban Ethiopia. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1985, 291 pp., ISBN 91 71062459.

This monograph reports the research under- taken for a doctoral thesis, and in form and presentation it reflects the latter. Editing has been undertaken but more refinement and pruning would have been an advantage. The work is based on considerable Ethiopian field experience but this was gained in the 1970s. Consequently what is reported is to some extent (how much is not indicated) of historical interest. The enormous environ- mental, political, social and economic im- pacts of the last decade and a half are given only scant consideration in just over three pages. As a somewhat aged doctoral thesis the monograph has its merits in exploring in general and in specific terms the context and nature of migration to a small town in Ethiopia, in which particular attention is given to ethnicity, gender and occupation, but the overall picture for Shashemene which emerges is fragmentary and lacking in coherence. The logic of the ordering of material is not clear and is not explained by the author; the page given to 'organisation' does no more than list the chapters. Con- tribution to theory of rural/urban migration is limited, either to this phenomenon in Ethiopia in particular or more widely in Africa and other parts of the Third World. The latter is hardly surprising given that the majority of the references are of the same age as the content of the monograph, with little note of work published during the present decade. A thinner volume, half the length of the one reviewed, would have presented the contribution of Dr Bjergen much more effectively.

MANSELL PROTHERO

University of Liverpool

GUY ANKERL, Urbanisation Overspeed in Tro- pical Africa 1970-2000. Geneva: INU Press, 1986, 117 pp., $12.00, ISBN 2 88155 000 2.

vised and enlarged second edition before too long.

DAVID ANDERSON

Birkbeck College, London

GUNILLA BJEREN, Migration to Shashemene: ethnicity, gender and occupation in urban Ethiopia. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1985, 291 pp., ISBN 91 71062459.

This monograph reports the research under- taken for a doctoral thesis, and in form and presentation it reflects the latter. Editing has been undertaken but more refinement and pruning would have been an advantage. The work is based on considerable Ethiopian field experience but this was gained in the 1970s. Consequently what is reported is to some extent (how much is not indicated) of historical interest. The enormous environ- mental, political, social and economic im- pacts of the last decade and a half are given only scant consideration in just over three pages. As a somewhat aged doctoral thesis the monograph has its merits in exploring in general and in specific terms the context and nature of migration to a small town in Ethiopia, in which particular attention is given to ethnicity, gender and occupation, but the overall picture for Shashemene which emerges is fragmentary and lacking in coherence. The logic of the ordering of material is not clear and is not explained by the author; the page given to 'organisation' does no more than list the chapters. Con- tribution to theory of rural/urban migration is limited, either to this phenomenon in Ethiopia in particular or more widely in Africa and other parts of the Third World. The latter is hardly surprising given that the majority of the references are of the same age as the content of the monograph, with little note of work published during the present decade. A thinner volume, half the length of the one reviewed, would have presented the contribution of Dr Bjergen much more effectively.

MANSELL PROTHERO

University of Liverpool

GUY ANKERL, Urbanisation Overspeed in Tro- pical Africa 1970-2000. Geneva: INU Press, 1986, 117 pp., $12.00, ISBN 2 88155 000 2.

vised and enlarged second edition before too long.

DAVID ANDERSON

Birkbeck College, London

GUNILLA BJEREN, Migration to Shashemene: ethnicity, gender and occupation in urban Ethiopia. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1985, 291 pp., ISBN 91 71062459.

This monograph reports the research under- taken for a doctoral thesis, and in form and presentation it reflects the latter. Editing has been undertaken but more refinement and pruning would have been an advantage. The work is based on considerable Ethiopian field experience but this was gained in the 1970s. Consequently what is reported is to some extent (how much is not indicated) of historical interest. The enormous environ- mental, political, social and economic im- pacts of the last decade and a half are given only scant consideration in just over three pages. As a somewhat aged doctoral thesis the monograph has its merits in exploring in general and in specific terms the context and nature of migration to a small town in Ethiopia, in which particular attention is given to ethnicity, gender and occupation, but the overall picture for Shashemene which emerges is fragmentary and lacking in coherence. The logic of the ordering of material is not clear and is not explained by the author; the page given to 'organisation' does no more than list the chapters. Con- tribution to theory of rural/urban migration is limited, either to this phenomenon in Ethiopia in particular or more widely in Africa and other parts of the Third World. The latter is hardly surprising given that the majority of the references are of the same age as the content of the monograph, with little note of work published during the present decade. A thinner volume, half the length of the one reviewed, would have presented the contribution of Dr Bjergen much more effectively.

MANSELL PROTHERO

University of Liverpool

GUY ANKERL, Urbanisation Overspeed in Tro- pical Africa 1970-2000. Geneva: INU Press, 1986, 117 pp., $12.00, ISBN 2 88155 000 2.

This is a very strange little book. Its topics are fairly well-covered ground for tropical This is a very strange little book. Its topics are fairly well-covered ground for tropical This is a very strange little book. Its topics are fairly well-covered ground for tropical This is a very strange little book. Its topics are fairly well-covered ground for tropical

512 512 512 512

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Page 3: Urbanisation Overspeed in Tropical Africa 1970-2000by Guy Ankerl

SHORTER NOTICES SHORTER NOTICES

Africa, at least at the broad level of gener- alisation adopted. They include the question of whether the level and rate of urbanisation in selected African countries exceeds that warranted by economic indicators. This issue is in many ways both old-hat and irrelevant given that there is very little that can be done to reverse the process. Howev- er, a more telling criticism is that the data- base used relies almost entirely on projec- tions of urban growth rates to 2000 culled from UN statistics published in 1980. Such projections have their uses but it is most unwise to use them in statistical manipula- tions which are then presented as definite evidence on the relative position of countries in the future, especially when the vagaries of economic conditions in the present decade have significantly altered both urban and national economic parameters in the coun- tries considered, which include Ghana, Zaire and Tanzania. Ankerl's assertions that natural increase is far more important than in-migration in tropical African urban growth and that Kinshasa is larger than Lagos are also highly questionable. The book also considers a wide range of urban problems and possible solutions, focusing on the underprivileged, but much of the secon- dary material presented is already familiar. Finally both proof-reading and clearness of expression have been neglected-the kindest interpretation is that much has been lost in translation although no other language ver- sion is mentioned.

D. POTTS School of Oriental and African Studies,

University of London

MARGARET PEIL and PIUS o. SADA, African Urban Society, Social Development in the Third World. Chester: John Wiley, 1984, 392 pp., ISBN 0 471 90062 1.

Urbanisation is, perhaps, the most notice- able, talked about and studied process in tropical Africa today. African Urban Society successfully provides a wealth of relevant information on the theme and a basis for comparing urbanisation processes in the different sub-regions of tropical Africa (east, west, central and southern). The book is not a detailed study or presentation of urban societies or urban life in any one, two or more specific cities and towns. Rather, it presents the major patterns, processes and factors at play in the various countries, the wide range of urban centres and the varying societies, cultural, political and socio-

Africa, at least at the broad level of gener- alisation adopted. They include the question of whether the level and rate of urbanisation in selected African countries exceeds that warranted by economic indicators. This issue is in many ways both old-hat and irrelevant given that there is very little that can be done to reverse the process. Howev- er, a more telling criticism is that the data- base used relies almost entirely on projec- tions of urban growth rates to 2000 culled from UN statistics published in 1980. Such projections have their uses but it is most unwise to use them in statistical manipula- tions which are then presented as definite evidence on the relative position of countries in the future, especially when the vagaries of economic conditions in the present decade have significantly altered both urban and national economic parameters in the coun- tries considered, which include Ghana, Zaire and Tanzania. Ankerl's assertions that natural increase is far more important than in-migration in tropical African urban growth and that Kinshasa is larger than Lagos are also highly questionable. The book also considers a wide range of urban problems and possible solutions, focusing on the underprivileged, but much of the secon- dary material presented is already familiar. Finally both proof-reading and clearness of expression have been neglected-the kindest interpretation is that much has been lost in translation although no other language ver- sion is mentioned.

D. POTTS School of Oriental and African Studies,

University of London

MARGARET PEIL and PIUS o. SADA, African Urban Society, Social Development in the Third World. Chester: John Wiley, 1984, 392 pp., ISBN 0 471 90062 1.

Urbanisation is, perhaps, the most notice- able, talked about and studied process in tropical Africa today. African Urban Society successfully provides a wealth of relevant information on the theme and a basis for comparing urbanisation processes in the different sub-regions of tropical Africa (east, west, central and southern). The book is not a detailed study or presentation of urban societies or urban life in any one, two or more specific cities and towns. Rather, it presents the major patterns, processes and factors at play in the various countries, the wide range of urban centres and the varying societies, cultural, political and socio-

economic systems or levels of development in the continent. It does this starting with the general issues (chapters 1-4) through to the specific ones (chapters 5-10), from the broad national and theoretical levels to the local, small-scale processes of kinship and family, group and interpersonal contacts, workers' background, housing and poverty in individual cities, and among specific groups of urban inhabitants.

The issues discussed are rich and varied, including those relating to urban social change, equality of opportunity, access for all to urban services and advantages. The authors have chosen to explore 'the nature of urban life in Africa' by looking at such topics as the historical development of urba- nisation, urban ecology and differentiation, population mobility, household demogra- phy, social relations, leadership in urban politics and bureaucracy, the labour force, housing and poverty.

There are numerous features of the book which aid understanding. These include a very comprehensive bibliography for further reading; suggested major supplementary sources at the end of each chapter relevant for the topics discussed therein; a listing at the top of each chapter of the main topics, concepts and issues discussed in it; and a summary at the end of each chapter of the major arguments, areas of consensus or cau- tion, and issues requiring greater study. The text is also very lavishly referenced. It also contains a place map showing all the urban centres mentioned in the text, while many of the tables present data from a variety of studies from different countries at different dates, thus facilitating comparison.

The historical, geographical and demog- raphic treatment in chapter 1 prepares the ground and equips the reader for the subse- quent discussions on the models and theories in chapter 2 and on urban social systems in the subsequent chapters. Apart from presenting the historical development of urban centres and the urbanisation pro- cess in the region, chapter 1 also highlights some major features of and issues in urban spatial planning, including growth points, planned growth, city size, urban demands and parasitic relationships. It raises stimu- lating questions, such as when the authors argue that the 'growth pole strategies' in development planning 'should consider the variety of roles which towns are expected to play', while planners should decide on issues of 'growth for what' and 'to benefit whom'.

The reader is taken through a wide range of models and theories of urban physical and

economic systems or levels of development in the continent. It does this starting with the general issues (chapters 1-4) through to the specific ones (chapters 5-10), from the broad national and theoretical levels to the local, small-scale processes of kinship and family, group and interpersonal contacts, workers' background, housing and poverty in individual cities, and among specific groups of urban inhabitants.

The issues discussed are rich and varied, including those relating to urban social change, equality of opportunity, access for all to urban services and advantages. The authors have chosen to explore 'the nature of urban life in Africa' by looking at such topics as the historical development of urba- nisation, urban ecology and differentiation, population mobility, household demogra- phy, social relations, leadership in urban politics and bureaucracy, the labour force, housing and poverty.

There are numerous features of the book which aid understanding. These include a very comprehensive bibliography for further reading; suggested major supplementary sources at the end of each chapter relevant for the topics discussed therein; a listing at the top of each chapter of the main topics, concepts and issues discussed in it; and a summary at the end of each chapter of the major arguments, areas of consensus or cau- tion, and issues requiring greater study. The text is also very lavishly referenced. It also contains a place map showing all the urban centres mentioned in the text, while many of the tables present data from a variety of studies from different countries at different dates, thus facilitating comparison.

The historical, geographical and demog- raphic treatment in chapter 1 prepares the ground and equips the reader for the subse- quent discussions on the models and theories in chapter 2 and on urban social systems in the subsequent chapters. Apart from presenting the historical development of urban centres and the urbanisation pro- cess in the region, chapter 1 also highlights some major features of and issues in urban spatial planning, including growth points, planned growth, city size, urban demands and parasitic relationships. It raises stimu- lating questions, such as when the authors argue that the 'growth pole strategies' in development planning 'should consider the variety of roles which towns are expected to play', while planners should decide on issues of 'growth for what' and 'to benefit whom'.

The reader is taken through a wide range of models and theories of urban physical and

513 513

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