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The object of this paper is to suggest a theoretical approach to the study of social development in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Social development is regarded here as a radical transformation of economy and society, and as something which must be assessed in primarily human terms. After a critical examination of some conventional theories of modernization and social change, the paper goes on to suggest that a fruitful line of research is to view development as fundamental structural change. This would involve examination of social structural features in a society which encourage or hinder social development. Finally, specific empirical research is to be directed to identify agents as well as obstacles to social development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years the rank-dimensional approach to the analysis of social stratification has become increasingly prominent. One of its advocates, Johan Galtung, has made relations between nations his major point of empirical reference. The present paper applies rank-dimensional analysis to the deprived nations of Africa and Asia (or the so-called Third World) in an attempt to grasp the degree of rank homogeneity within the group and to relate its rank characteristics to the more privileged nations in the global system. This exercise demonstrates that there is a linear relationship between total rank and rank disequilibrium in the Afro-Asian group; a finding which has a number of significant theoretical ramifications. The major theoretical innovation in this connexion is the concept of rank divergence-defined as the degree to which a unit in a system of stratification diverges from the typical relational pattern holding between the unit's total rank and rank disequilibrium scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African Ranches Ltd., a subsidiary of a Liverpool firm which later became part of the United Africa Company, was the only private cattle ranching enterprise ever established in Northern Nigeria. The company operated a 16,000-acre ranch in western Bornu province from 1914 until 1923, when it was given up to the government. Although ranching was officially discouraged, for a time it looked as though it might succeed. The vicissitudes of this early ranching scheme are chronicled in this paper, with data coming principally from the National Archives in Kaduna and Ibadan, Nigeria. and the Public Record Office, London. Although this is an historical study of a unique enterprise, it offers instructive comparison with recent state-owned ranches in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mid-1972 the continent of Africa had a population of 364 million or 9.6 percent of the world population of 3,782 million. The annual crude birth and death rates which were 47 and 21 per 1000 respectively produced a growth rate of 2.6 percent per annum, a rate second only to that of Latin America. The African population will double in 27 years. The population is very young with 44 percent under 15 years of age while only 3 percent is 65 and over. This paper will deal with two issues: What are the population problems in Africa and what are the African peoples and governments doing about them? Whether Africa has a population problem is a topic that will continue to be debated for the rest of this century. It is an issue on which reasonable and intelligent people disagree. The author's position is to say categorically that a problem does exist and then go on from there. This article also attempts to review the knowledge of family planning in Black Africa. The necessity for massive action on the part of governments has been emphasized. The readiness of the population is not in doubt. The political risks the elite: political, military and intellectual, runs should be completely spelled out in any communication addressed to them.

This article provides information on the Workshop on Religious Research in Africa that was convened by David Barrett, director of the Unit of Research of the Church of the Province of East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya from December 28, 1967 to January 12, 1968. Work on the theme of the Workshop, the Life and Growth of the Church in East Africa, had begun eighteen months earlier and most of the papers prepared by the seventy participants had been distributed several weeks before they met at the University College, Nairobi. The morning sessions were guided by Bishop Stephen Neil, by Canon Houtart and by Professors Ranger and Tanner. The broad theme helped participants to pin down the topics of common interest. Ranger, who described his work as that of a political and social historian, assured them that the Christian conscience had penetrated East Africa deeper than one thought. The Workshop showed that there was as yet no agreement about such key concepts as that of the High God, that of ancestor worship, and still less about the meaning of the selected ritual expressions. Since most of the participants were also active missionaries from the Christian Churches, the discussion often turned to the formulation of problems for research workers.