Book Reviews : Mexico: Mutual Adjustment Planning. By ROBERT J. SHAFER, with prefatory comment by Bertram M. Gross. (Syracuse: Syracuse U. Press, 1966. Pp. xxiv, 214. $4.25.)

• Author: Paul Kelso
• Published date: 01 December 1966
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296601900444
• Date: 01 December 1966
• Subject Matter: Articles

768

be

selective

in

factual

presentation.

Thus

while

we

are

confronted

with

the

stark

facts

of

lack

of

sanitation

and

burgeoning

population,

it

is

not

mentioned

that

the

population

growth

is

in

part

the

result

of

sanitary

measures

and

improved

medical

facilities.

The

caste,

while

divisive,

is

at

the

same

time

an

integrating

influence.

It

contains

seeds

of

change,

too.

The

universal

franchise

in

India has

enabled

these

sub-units

of

the

social

system

to

act

as

pressure

groups

which

by

articulating

the

demands

of

the

&dquo;constituents&dquo;

have

lent

vitality

to

democratic

politics

and

tended

to

create

conditions

for

social

mobility.

Similarly

the

peasant

or

local

trader

may

be

illiterate

but

is

often

shrewd

about

local

issues

and

immediate

interests

of

his

community.

During

the

British

raj

a

farmer

would

not

express

his

needs

to

a

visiting

government

official

(sahib) :

Out

of

characteristic

humility

and

fatalism,

he

would

simply

say

that

he

was

contented,

that

he

had

everything

he

needed

and

wanted

no

more.

But

now

individual

complaints

(concerning

late

supplies

of

seeds,

etc.)

are

frequently

heard

and

deputation

after

deputation

of

villagers

presses

for

the

recognition

of

its

claims.

Apart

from

this

criticism,

however,

the

book

does

ring

true.

The

food

pro-

duction

has

stagnated

and

food

riots

have

not

been

unknown.

Only

the

shipments

of

U.S.

wheat

have

helped

India

to

beat

off

the

famine.

Custom

is

still

the

king

and

the

masses

have

not

grasped

the

urgency

of

change.

The

pace

of

society

is

dismally

slow.

To

add

to

this

is

the

uncomforting

slackness

of

the

secretariat-

wallah.

Even

in

regard

to

projects

of

change

and

reform,

the

author

points

out,

&dquo;the

administering

personnel

reflect

the

same

attitudes

of

bestowal

and

employ

the

same

dignified

pace

as

their

British

predecessors

did.&dquo;

And

one

can,

along

with

the

author,

blame

the

political

elite

for

failing

to

pull

the

nation

out

of

this

undesired

state

of

affairs.

The

book

succeeds

in

getting

the

reader’s

interest

and

can

be

recommended

to

the

discriminating

general

reader.

It

has

little

in

it,

however,

to

merit

academic

attention.

Social

Science

Research

Council,

New

York

KRISHAN

NANDA

Mexico:

Mutual

Adjustment

Planning.

By

ROBERT

J.

SHAFER,

with

prefatory

comment

by

Bertram

M.

Gross.

(Syracuse:

Syracuse

U.

Press,

1966.

Pp.

xxiv,

214.

$4.25.)

Mutual

adjustment

planning

refers

to

the

accommodations

and

compromises

occurring

in

Mexico

among

numerous

and

diverse

planning

agencies

organized

by

government

to

help

it

direct

and

coordinate

the

economic

and

social

growth

of

what

is

today

probably

the

most

rapidly

developing

state

in

Latin

America.

Though

the

participants

in

mutual

adjustment

planning

today

include

four

central

coordi-

native

and

guidance

bodies,

the

process

is

essentially

decentralized

and

includes

numerous

sectoral,

regional,

state,

and

municipal

agencies.

The

process

also

em-

braces

the

planning

agencies

of

private

industry

and

commerce

to

the

extent

that

they

interact

with

public

bodies.

In

a

prefatory

comment

which

in

effect

gives

the

book

two

conclusions,

but

goes

beyond

Shafer’s

conclusions

in

certain

respects,

Bertram

M.

Gross,

general