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Seyoum Hameso revisits development, state and society with an emphasis on examining development theory and it’s failure to take cultural, social and political factors into amount. Africa’s slide into economic and social ruin since the blossoming of independence testifies to this failure. As he writes, ‘development is a virtual interface between economics and technology, politics and culture’. The author, who in his numerous works has never ceased to challenge accepted dogma on development and on ethnicity, continues to challenge in this new book. Global (‘the terms of trade are so unbalanced that their accurate description requires the language of protest’) and specific African influences are examined as well as the need for development to be inclusive of human rights, rule of law, transparency, accountability, local self-reliance and local management of resources.

Seyoum stresses the dependence of economic development on concomitant development in political and social terms. He is sceptical about aid: ‘It is one of the great deceptions of our lime that the fruits of development were expected to come to the poor, packaged in the form of aid.’  It can be confidently stated that the book, as was its intention, is a valuable source of information and inspiration to the interested general public as well as the development or Africa specialist.

Trevor Trueman, March 2002

More information about this book is available here

NEWS                      

Report: Horn of turbulence

CUD disarray  

Sidama Land - Coffee

Sidama not Sidamo

More Examples of wrong Sidamo name

 

ARTICLES                      

Introduction to Sidama

Abuse of religion

Why Sidamas Reject SNNPRS

The Sidama Diaspora [pdf]

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