THE OTHER CITIES

The book under consideration is the outcome of a panel dis¬cussion on urbanization orga¬nized in Delhi by the editor in December 1978. The first sec¬tion of the book focusses on one of the elements of the process of urbanization, viz., labour migration. The remain¬ing three sections deal with the various consequences of urbanization i.e., family and kinship in an urban setting, small scale entrepreneurs and the informal sector, and collec¬tive action and protest in the city. All these papers are con¬cerned with ex-colonial coun¬tries that presently fall within the capitalist or semi-capitalist world system.

Two excellent studies on the patterns and causes of labour migration by Lourdes Arizpe and T.G. McGee indicate that migration, in most cases, is not a permanent movement of workers from rural to urban areas. Arizpe illustrates the phenomenon of relay migra¬tion with case studies of two Mexican villages. Progressive fragmentation of land holdings led to reduced income of the peasant households. With the need to augment their income the peasants began taking turns to seek jobs in the cities.