Colin Stoneman

Folsomia Candida - an ideal organism for population studies in the laboratory

Folsomia Candida is a small insect which has proved to be an excellent subject for population studies that can be carried out cheaply and easily in schools and colleges. Means of identifying, obtaining, and culturing these organisms are given together with some indication of the kinds of investigations which can be performed.

Problems of industrial development and market integration in Namibia

This paper reports on a recent survey of manufacturing industry in Namibia, and uses this and other data to attempt an analysis of the possibility and desirability of industrialisation in a very small economy. The analysis is located in the context of Namibias long‐standing integration with the economy of South Africa, its present membership of the Southern African Customs Union, and its membership of developing regional organisations. The constraints on industrialisation are identified, and the paper concludes with an elaboration of the role that industry should play in employment creation and general economic development.

Foreign capital and the reconstruction of Zimbabwe

The study picks out the dominant characteristics of the development of Rhodesia as a peripheral economy by foreign capital over the last eighty years. The significance of settler capital and the impact of UDI are assessed. The conclusions explain the importance attached by international capitalists to achieving a settlement in Rhodesia, in order to stabilise the whole region and to secure control of its valuable resources. The discussion also poses some of the options for the Zimbabwean struggle in terms of achieving genuine liberation.

Trading Partners or Trading Deals? The EU & US in Southern Africa

Both the European Union (EU) and the US are currently pursuing trade agreements with weak economies, quite separate from the negotiations in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Often the motives for seeking trade agreements with a particular region reflect as much the competition between the two power blocs for market access as a desire for any new relations with the trading partners. The approaches or tactics of the EU and the US differ, but their goals seem to be similar: maximising trade dominance. This paper compares the EUs negotiations for ‘economic partnership agreements’ (EPAs) with southern Africa with US negotiations for a free trade agreement with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).1

The science education of biology teachers

A report of a conference discussion at Nottingham on the need for augmenting the scientific knowledge of trainee biology teachers in University Departments of Education. Statistics were gathered from a sample of 64 students as a basis for the discussion. These indicate the extent to which the students lack training in relevant scientific subjects and in particular biological topics.

ROAPE's Africa Research Fund: a report

A few months ago ROAPE decided to initiate a small research grants competition for African scholars and/or activists based in Africa and pursuing a political economy agenda. This has turned out to be one of the most successful ventures ROAPE has engaged in to reach out to progressive African intellectuals. The establishment of the Fund was based on the premise that the shortage of funding for critical research was one of the problems faced, and one of the explanations for, the limited amount of such material coming to ROAPE. ROAPE therefore offered four small research grants (each of £3000) to applicants who could devise a small research project and write it up. Half the grant is to be delivered immediately, the other half on completion of a submission to be considered for publication. The response went far beyond our expectations. We received over two hundred applications from all over Africa – from South Africa to Tunisia, Madagascar to Senegal, Burkina Faso to South Sudan. A high proportion came from Nigeria, with South Africa, Zimbabwe and Uganda also generating many applications. We were particularly pleased that over 20% of the applications came from female candidates. With only four grants to disburse we were hard-pressed to make a choice from amongst a very competent and worthy set of applications, mostly from academics, but some from political activists and others who encompassed both locations. We decided to focus on projects with a strong and clear political economy framing and with a convincing research methodology. Despite this clear objective many promising candidates still had to be turned down. This suggests to us that there is a huge unmet need for critical research support in Africa and we hope to sustain this initiative into the future (our own funds permitting). The four winning candidates were as follows: