Economic planning is now a commonly acclaimed ideal in the underdeveloped countries, particularly in Africa. Both the theory and the practice were transmitted by the developed countries. Certainly, the advanced economies have very different conceptions of planning, depending on whether they are centrally planned or market-oriented. The former embrace economic planning by ideological predilection; the latter are moving in the direction of ‘indicative’ planning, or at least state intervention on an extended scale. This course was induced by the goad of the crisis-ridden years of the great depression, the exigencies of World War II, the pressures of post-war reconstruction, and the stupendous technological and organisational revolution of our times. In the metropolitan countries—France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom—the idea and practice of economic planning was propagated to the colonies during and after the war.

Pan-Africanism has been described as ‘essentially a movement of emotions and ideas’,1 and this description is equally applicable to négritude, which is its cultural parallel. Indeed, no better phrase could be found to sum up its double nature, first as a psychological response to the social and cultural conditions of the ‘colonial situation’,2 and secondly as a fervent quest for a new and original orientation.

In the former respect, the imaginative writings of the French-speaking Negro intellectuals offer a precious testimony to the human problems and inner conflicts of the colonial situation; in the latter respect, their propaganda writing and other activities represent an effort to transcend the immediate conditions of this situation by a process of reflection. Négritude is thus at the same time a literary and an ideological movement.

A Strongly charged Swahili political vocabulary has emerged in Tanzania, which sharply distinguishes persons and nations, in both domestic and foreign affairs, as being either for or against Tanzania's policies. The implications of the selection and usage of this vocabulary are considerable in any assessment of political trends in Tanzania, since language and culture are certainly related. Not only does language reflect cultural patterns, but language also imposes its patterns on culture.1

In most African countries, the housing situation is most unsatisfactory, both in quality and quantity. The underlying factors are both demographic (population growth, rapid urbanisation) and economic (the under-development of productive resources). Although the poverty of housing is only one facet of the ‘pauperisation’ of the African masses, and although new needs arise directly from the process of development itself, yet the only possible framework for any modern housing policy is planning—economic, social, and spatial—in which the role of the public authorities is decisive both in the preparation and the implementation of the plan. Housing then becomes one element in the total modernisation of society.

What follows purports to give the opinions of three judges of the highest court of appeal in Newstate, Africa. The title is taken from a pregnant phrase of O. W. Holmes, an American writer on jurisprudence. He held that the result of a case depended upon ‘the inarticulate major premiss’ of the judge (or the unstated assumption which most influenced his judgement), at least in matters of first impression—i.e. cases in which the judges must determine for the first time what is the operative rule (‘norm’) of law. He urged this proposition in sharp opposition to the popular notion that a judge merely applied to the ascertained facts clear rules of law, which he found in earlier cases or in statutes.

Ten years ago Kenneth Robinson published ‘A Survey of the Background Material for the Study of Government in French Tropical Africa’, in The American Political Science Review (Washington), L, 1956, pp. 179–98. In the absence of published studies dealing directly with government and politics in French African colonies, his survey was necessarily limited largely to official publications and to studies of French colonial policy, legal and constitutional developments, and ethnography. At the same time Thomas Hodgkin's Nationalism in Colonial Africa (London, Muller, 1956), the first and perhaps the most successful attempt to analyse and compare postwar political and social developments, had to rely on a few sociological studies for relevant material on French colonies. At that time, Hodgkin's own articles in West Africa (London) and a few articles by Robinson were the only available pieces of published research on politics in this area.

The German Africa Society was founded in 1956; it had no predecessor in Germany and is not the continuation of any pre-war institution. From the beginning it has concentrated its activities in two fields; making Africa and its problems known to the German public, and endeavouring to foster relations between Africans and Germans in all spheres of life. Research and publications are directed towards African cultures as integrated entities, including economic, social, and cultural aspects.

The Institute for Research and Experiment in Development Methods is an international, private, non-profit-making association under Swiss law. Its headquarters are in Geneva and its management in Paris (Rue Réaumur). The constitution requires that all its activities shall be carried out without political, religious, or racial distinction.

I.R.A.M. was born along with the newly independent countries, to answer the historical need for research and action to ensure the participation of the people in development programmes. It is based on the notion of‘animation’, which arose resulting from a meeting between African and South American leaders and a small group of Europeans who had been actively involved in the struggle for independence in many countries under colonial rule before 1956.

The Africa Institute of South Africa was established in April 1960. It is an autonomous body, incorporated under the Companies Act as a non-profit association, and administered by a Council presided over by the Chancellor of the University of South Africa, Dr F. J. de Villiers. The Council is composed of representatives of the South African universities, the South African Academy of Science and Arts, and other interested bodies. The chief executive officer is the Director, Professor P. F. D. Weiss, who is also chairman of the Council of the University College at Fort Hare. Its headquarters are at the University of South Africa, in Pretoria.

The rapidly growing interest shown by the people of Scandinavia in the developing countries of Africa has affected librarians too. Though perhaps the Swedes were rather slower than the Danes to respond to the stimulus of the conference on public libraries in Africa held in Copenhagen in 1961, they are now attempting to recapture the initiative. The 1965 conference, organised jointly by the Swedish National Board of Education, the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, and the Norrköping City Library, was designed as a springboard for further action.

This was the second time demographers from all over the world had been brought together under the joint auspices of the United Nations and the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. The first was in Rome, in 1954. The progress made over this decade is indeed tremendous. To begin with, the difference is one of sheer dimension: at the Belgrade conference more than oo papers were presented, including a large number of extremely valuable background papers, and the number of participants was around 800.

The tremendous increase in contacts that has taken place in recent years between African universities and universities in Europe and America has thrown up a number of common problems in the fields of joint research schemes and recruitment. It was to discuss these problems that the Centre of African Studies, Edinburgh University, in association with the U.K. Ministry of Overseas Development, convened a conference, attended by about 100 delegates, representing British universities (mainly from Scotland and the north of England), the Ministry of Overseas Development, and universities in English-speaking African countries.

This International Congress was organised by the University College, Dar es Salaam, in conjunction with the Government of Tanzania, and with financial assistance from U.N.E.S.C.O. It was concerned with the related problems of research and teaching in African history, and the working plan covered four main points: African historiography, its methods, its emerging themes, and the teaching of African history.

In 1958, when the African Studies Association was founded, a small group of American scholars who were interested in Africa comprised the first annual general meeting. This year nearly 1,000 people attended the eighth annual meeting. Most of those attending were fellows and members of the Association, augmented by visitors from many parts of the world. These included Seretse Khama, Prime Minister of Bechuanaland, who gave the main address at the opening plenary session. Other visitors included Daryll Forde from London, S. N. Varma from the Department of African Studies at the University of Delhi, and Philippe Decraene, African correspondent for the Paris paper, Le Monde.