The formulation of valid generalizations about the climate for research in the social sciences and humanities in eastern Africa is a perplexing task. When one thinks one has reached a useful generalization, one is likely to be confronted with conflicting evidence. Moreover, changes are occurring with increasing frequency. In Zambia, for example, certain kinds of research especially important for political scientists were banned in July, 1967. Two main conclusions may nonetheless be drawn from my 175 interviews in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Ethiopia, and the United Kingdom on behalf of the Research Liaison Committee of the African Studies Association.
It was encouraging to find many informants, both African and expatriate and in both government and academic circles, who emphasized the need for more research, especially for studies geared at least in part to help African governments in their economic, social, and educational development planning. Foreign scholars who comply with the established research procedures and behave with tact and common sense are still welcome throughout the area. However, this optimistic judgment must be qualified by a less favorable conclusion. The evidence indicates that the research climate is deteriorating in certain respects. In particular, the new clearance procedures, which often cause months of uneconomic delay, will probably not only become somewhat more restrictive in countries that already have them, but will probably be adopted in other countries as well.
African Studies Association (U.S.A.): Research Liaison Committee