ifda dossier 74 - Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

ifda dossier 74 november/december 1989 sources/fuentes
N.B. Publications mentioned in the following section are not available from IFDA but,
depending on the case, from bookshops or publishers whose addresses are indicated
at the end of this section.
Local space
Amartya Sen et al, The Standard of
Living (Cambridge University Press, 1987)
125pp. For academics, and ministers of
finance, the IMF and the World Bank, "the
standard of living" is an economic pheno-
menon. They believe that they determine
such standards through various policy
manipulations. Policiesdo influencelabour
productivity, and consequently standards
of living. However, irrespective of govern-
ment interventions, and blissfully imper-
vious of "markets", ordinary men and
women determine their own standards
through "self-provisioning". Keith Hart's
thoughtful essay in this stimulating volume
is particularly productive for those working
at the grassroots. In almost every essay
here, philosophy is interwoven with econo-
mics. This volume questions the relevan-
ce of the concept of the standard of living
as an economic phenomenon. There is
more to it than command over goods and
services. A higher standard of living is as-
sociated with increased opportunities, as
well as, or even more than, a bundle of
commodities. A functioning democratic
structure - not that which passes for
democracy in many Third World countries
- can be a direct contribution to a higher
standard of living. The "canonization" of
the market and the consequent premium
attached to diverse speculations, in con-
trast to the neglect of the solid achieve-
ments, for example of Nobel Prize win-
ners, affects adversely the quality of life.
This volume takes a step forward in
arguing for a standard of living, which
incorporates within it a measure of the
intangible - that of human happiness. (LS)
Stephanie Urdang, And Still they Dance:
Women, War and the Struggle for Change
in Mozambique (London: Earthscan, 1989)
256pp. Since the overthrow of Portuguese
rule in 1975, Mozambique and its Frelimo
government have been constantly under
threat. Western attention and aid have
focussed upon drought and famine: but
systematic attacks from the Renamo
'rebels", backed by the South African
government, have exploited these dis-
asters and inflicted much greater suffering.
Throughout the fourteen years of civil war,
women have been fighting, both politically
and socially, for their independence in an
independent state, Stephanie Urdang
documents the lives of women in factories
and fields, village cooperatives and state
farms. And Still They Dance testifies to the
enormous hardships that many have
endured: but also to their unquenchable
determination.
Jan Hoeksema, Women and Social
Forestry (Wageningen: BOS, 1989) 38pp.
Lilia Labidi, Cabra Hachma: Sexualite et
tradition (Tunis: Annawras, 1989) 423pp.
La parole des femmes, insidieuse, orageu-
se, comment en parler? Comment en
rendre compte autrement que ne Ie font
generalement les hommes? L'enjeu de ce
nouveau livre de Lilia Labidi reside dans
cette volonte de se demarquer du dis-
cours dominant, rnettre des mots la ou Ie
silence avait longtemps prfs refuge et
denoncer les limites d'un champ de savoir
qui excluait cette parole. Aussi sa reflexion
s'articule-t-elle autour de trois axes: deve-
nir fernme dans une societe arabo-musul-
mane, feminite et tradition et, enfin, dis-