Volume 23, number 4 (2002)

Articles

In Search of Dialogue? Oil Companies and Indigenous Peoples of the Ecuadorean Amazon

Tanya Korovkin, University of Waterloo

Over the past two decades, the oil development agenda has been influenced by neo-liberal economic thought, with its emphasis on the virtues of private enterprise. This emphasis has, however, combined with a greater attention to environmental issues. Many private sector representatives have expressed their commitment to the principle of environmental and social responsibility, which, at the turn of the millennium, is supposed to moderate the unrelenting corporate search for profits. The analysis of the oil development in the Ecuadorean Amazon suggests though that this commitment is uneven and, overall, rather weak. More meaningful government and community participation are needed to make it effective. Without improved government regulations and increased community pressures, the corporate principle of environmental and social responsibility is likely to remain in the realm of public relations, legitimizing corporate presence in environmentally fragile indigenous territories, but producing few tangible results. In addition, more thought should be given to the nature of indigenous claims with regard to oil development. While environmental protection is an important issue, even more so is the need for sustainable incomegeneration projects that would allow indigenous peoples to alleviate their subsistence crisis.

Différenciation et travail dans la maquila : éléments pour une interprétation de la dynamique territoriale au Yucatán ?

Christian Azaïs, Université de Picardie Jules Verne

The article examines the differentiation caused by the introduction of industrial units (known as “maquiladoras”) in Yucatán. Two major hypotheses emerge in the text. Firstly, the changes brought about by these new industrial units have an impact on the territory, thereby renewing apprehension in the concept of maquiladoras in both economic theory and regional science. Secondly, labour is considered a privileged access to territorial dynamics. It is proposed that different forms of labour contribute to shaping a territory and, by extension, they impose their individual differentiation on the territorial dynamics.

Globalization and Health: Venezuela and Cuba

George W. Schuyler, University of Central Arkansas

This article explores the impact of globalization and neo-liberal reforms on the health of Venezuelans and Cubans during the 1980s and 1990s. It seeks to illustrate, through the lens of health care, how global economic forces affect national development and people’s lives. Venezuela and Cuba struggled with severe economic crises and their health systems suffered. Cuba, however, was able to preserve a greater degree of control over its adjustment to the global economy and thus maintained a relatively good health system. Venezuela, on the other hand, embraced neo-liberal policies prescribed by the IMF and other international financial institutions, lost autonomy, and failed to protect its health care system adequately.

Ghana: Industrial Development in the Post-Structural Adjustment Program Period

Peter Arthur, Dalhousie University

This paper discusses Ghana’s economic and industrial promotion efforts in the post-structural adjustment program (SAP) period. Although International Financial Institutions like the World Bank and IMF once hailed Ghana as an economic success after the implementation of the SAP, it later became obvious that the SAP did not improve the socio-economic condition of the country. To deal with Ghana’s continued economic decline even after implementing the SAP, as well as get debt relief from its creditors, the government decided to opt for Heavily Indebted and Poor Country (HIPC) status in March 2001. Despite the perceived benefits derived from joining the HIPC initiative, this paper argues that industrial and economic development will only be realized when a sound industrial development policy is put in place to complement the debt relief that Ghana will enjoy under the HIPC initiative.

The Impact of Trade on Employment in Eighteen Less-Industrialized Countries: An Econometric Analysis

Maryke Dessing

On average, import and export penetration have no discernible impact on manufacturing employment in 18 less-industrialized countries. However, for all sectors combined, imports have a positive impact, and exports, mostly a negative one, in three countries for which suitable data were available. Some manufacturing industries have generally had more success in creating employment through trade. Finally, inter-country differences in employment elasticities of exports are reasonably well explained unlike for imports by per capita GNP, the employment impact of imports, the size of the population, economic openness, labour force participation, indebtedness, investments, and the growth rate of manufacturing production and employment.

International Aid: A Study of Canadian Opinions

Edward Opoku-Dapaah, Salem College

A number of possible purposes exist for Canada’s international aid program: humanitarian assistance, promotion of global security, and expansion of global trade. But the opinions of the Canadian public on international aid hardly fit into these official objectives. Findings from this study suggest that self-interest, along with ethnocentrism, have led to a decline in public support for Canada’s international aid program. Attitude toward international aid does not exist in isolation. It is influenced by a complex set of economic and cultural concerns that include: a) personal factors such as one’s values, religion, self-interest, and economic circumstances; and b) the broader, social and economic context of Canada. The interplay of these factors indicates relatively low levels of support for international aid. The study suggests four categories into which the Canadian public might fall depending on support of or opposition to international aid.

Reviews

Humanitarian Action: Improving Performance Through Improved Learning, Active Learning Network For Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP)

Wayne Nelles, University of British Columbia

Portrait of the Poor: An Assets-Based Approach, Orazio Attanasio and Miguel Székely (eds.)

Lee-Ann Small, University of Aberdeen

Histoire, concepts, politiques et pratiques de terrain, Yvan Conoir et Gérard Verna

Raymond R. Gervais, McGill University

Labour Mobility and Rural Society, Arjan de Haan and Ben Rogaly (eds.)

Henry Rempel, University of Manitoba

Growth, Inequality, and Poverty in Rural China: The Role of Public Investments, Shenggen Fan, Linxiu Zhang, and Xiaobo Zhang

Henry Rempel, University of Manitoba

Rapport sur les dysfonctionnements des systèmes de soins : enquêtes sur l’accès aux soins dans cinq capitales d’Afrique de l’Ouest, Y. Jaffré, J.-P. Olivier de Sardan, Y. Diallo, A.S. Fall, M. Koné, A. Souley, Y. Touré

Valéry Ridde, Université Laval

Crony Capitalism: Corruption and Development in South, Korea and the Philippines, David C. Kang

Brian K. Maclean, Laurentain University

Sir Hans Singer: The Life and Work of a Development Economist, D. John Shaw

John Toye, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford