Review by Choice Review
Bunker argues that because the Ugandan state needs peasant revenue, the peasants can gain political autonomy and force the state to respond to their demands. The author's meticulous historical case study reinforces the point raised by Robert H. Bates (in Markets and States in Tropical Africa: The Political Basis of Agricultural Policies, 1981) that African states try to appropriate large portions of the peasants' production, and demonstrates the view of Goran Hyden (in Beyond Ujamaa in Tanzania: Underdevelopment and an Uncaptured Peasantry, 1980) that peasants can withdraw from cash markets if their product is overtaxed. Bunker puts more emphasis on peasant response to economic policies than do editors Dharam Ghai and Samir Radwan in Agrarian Policies and Rural Poverty in Africa (1983). Historians, sociologists, political scientists, and specialists on Uganda and Africa will profit from this well-organized book. Graduate collections.-E.W. Nafziger, Kansas State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
