he replied ‘but I thought you were an economist’! Throughout his time at the UN, Singer did remainan academic economist by virtue of his appointment in the Graduate Faculty at the New School forSocial Research in New York. This was important for Singer because by teaching he was able torefine his theoretical thinking in development economics, as well as draw on his experiences in theUN. Early in his teaching at the New School he was addressing the big issues of ‘vicious circles ofpoverty’; the role of the State in economic development; the importance of human capital, and aboveall, the terms of trade. Singer, it seems, deserves precedence over Prebisch because the latter reliedheavily on Singer’s work for the UN (see Toye and Toye, 2003).

During his 22 years at the UN Singer held many different positions; initiated many new pro-grammes, and led many UN missions to developing countries. Major initiatives include: the SpecialUnited Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED), which led to the creation of the soft loanarm of the World Bank; the World Food Programme; the UNDP; UNIDO; the African DevelopmentBank, and changing the focus of UNICEF from an emergency fund to an organization concernedwith the long-run interests of children. Was Singer ever nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize? I haveheard his name mentioned in conversations at conferences, but the biography makes no mention.

When Singer retired from the UN in 1969, a lesser man might have opted for a quieter, morereflective life. Instead he joined the IDS at Sussex and continued his globe trotting and frenetic paceof work as if he had never left the UN. On one occasion when I met him in 1996, aged 86, he told methat he was taking a speed-reading course so that he could read papers quicker! He played a majorrole in the World Employment Programme launched in 1969—heading the first mission to Kenya—and in the ongoing World Food Programme. Singer always dissented from the popular view that foodaid was dangerous because it discouraged domestic production and reinforced governments’ neglect ofagriculture. It all depends on how food aid is used. Singer was also always a campaigner for a greaterflow of aid to developing countries, and a harsh critic of the activities of the IMF and World Bank.

Singer’s remarkable intellectual energy and versatility is not in doubt, but as Shaw says thedownside has been that ‘he has dispersed his efforts widely and has not produced the one definitivework which he carries in him’. Grand treatises require periods of tranquility, and the ability to say‘no’ to other temptations and requests, which Singer found difficult. Nonetheless, his legacy to theeconomics profession, to development economics, to developing countries, and to the world at largehas been enormous. He is a true humanitarian who, intentionally or not, took Keynes to heart when,in his famous toast to the Royal Economic Society in 1945, he assigned to economists the role of the‘trustees of the possibility of civilization’.

REFERENCE

Toye J, Toye R. 2003. Historical origins of the Prebisch–Singer thesis. History of Political Economy,

forthcoming.

A. P. THIRLWALLUniversity of Kent at Canterbury, UK

Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jid.977

Water Rights and Empowerment by RUTGERD BOELENS and POUL HOOGENDAM.

(Assen: Van Gorcum, 2002, pp. xiiþ 255, s 25.00 h/bk).

The editors define water rights as social relationships and an expression of power. Also, they involveaccess to a valuable resource (water), and a relationship of inclusion and exclusion, and control overdecision-making. Water Rights and Empowerment focuses on water management practices in theAndes. In particular, it seeks to better understand water rights in order to develop methodologicalinsights to improve local water control and to empower peasant and indigenous communities.

This is a scholarly text aimed at specialists rather than a general readership. It comprises 12papers, which explore water rights in areas of Bolivia, Ecuador, Northern Chile and Peru. The main

386 Book Reviews

Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Int. Dev. 15, 385–390 (2003)

audience will be those involved in improving or introducing irrigation, those with an interest in user-organizations, and those active in the empowerment of the peasantry. There is also much in the bookfor those studying the Andean region or indigenous peoples, and some sections which would be ofvalue to those involved with highland areas development, peasant or gender studies. The papers oftenconcentrate on organization and organization-building and stress the desirability of having peasantand indigenous communities’ rights and rationality respected and enforced.

The editors set out to critically analyze prevailing approaches and policies in the Andean region,and to understand the ‘ . . . normative logic of peasant and indigenous water management . . . ’ (p. ix).Valuable insights are provided for those contemplating or analyzing irrigation interventions. Thechapters cover a wide range of topics. General issues addressed include water rights and collectiveaction in community irrigation, cultural politics and local resistance in highland irrigation devel-opment, water rights and watersheds—especially managing multiple water uses and strengtheningstakeholder platforms. In respect of Bolivia, ‘materializing rights’ is explored in the context ofhydraulic property in the extension and rehabilitation of two irrigation systems, while design andwater rights is considered for small scale irrigation experiences in Oruro. Water rights andstrengthening users’ organizations—the art of negotiating and challenges for institutions assistingcommunity irrigation—including gender dimensions of water control are examined for the Andes.

The studies on Ecuador concentrate on recipes and resistance through peasant’s rights buildingand empowerment in the Licto irrigation system, rule-making and empowerment in the arena ofconflicting normative frameworks of irrigation development in Ceceles, and re-negotiation of waterrights in the ancient irrigation system of Urcuqui. The study in Northern Chile addresses local normsand competition for water in Aymara and Atacama communities.

The book hangs together well, unlike many collections of papers, and it has a number of usefulblack-and-white maps and photographs. Each chapter has a reasonable bibliography and there aresections providing information about each author and the contributing institutions (Swiss Agency forDevelopment and Cooperation; German Agro Action; ICCO; CENTRO AGUA; NetherlandsDevelopment Organization; IWEG-Wageningen University) at the end of the book. However, thereis no index and little in the way of endnotes or footnotes to aid more general readers.

Overall, a useful addition to the literature on irrigation, organization-building and empowerment;this would be a welcome addition to university libraries and perhaps the shelves of specialists andagencies active in the Andes.

CHRIS BARROWSchool of Social Sciences and International Development,

University of Wales Swansea, UKPublished online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jid.943

Development and Democracy: What Have We Learnt and How? edited by OLE

ELGSTROM and GORAN HYDEN. (London: Routledge/ECPR Studies in Political

Science, pp. 210, £60.00 h/bk).

The starting point of this edited volume is one of the most debated questions within comparativepolitics—how much does democracy depend upon supportive social conditions? As pointed out bythe authors, the last decade has provided a virtual ‘world laboratory’ for renewed research into theinterconnections between democracy and development as countries across the globe and at allspectres of development have implemented democratic reforms in one form or another. The statedaim of this edited volume is to take stock of the large volume of work that has come out in the last tenyears as more and more countries have engaged in efforts to democratize. By doing so the chapterauthors promise to highlight the principal gains in new knowledge and to identify continuing gaps inour understanding of the relationship between democracy and development.

The content of the book goes beyond the dual focus on development and democracy and endsup covering almost all key aspects in the field of comparative politics in its nine substantivechapters:

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Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Int. Dev. 15, 385–390 (2003)