Etapas de implantación de un Proyecto Lean Manufacturing

to have shifted their focus from the straightforward totalisation of the world capitalist system, dualistic

class formation and conflict, and the static

articulation of modes of production towards an emphasis on the locally specific nature of capitalist development and state formation, in which multiplicity of agencies and social relationships are involved and interact with one another in dynamic ways (Chazan et al. 1992). The key concepts that have emerged out of this discourse are entrepreneurs and patron-client relationships (Iliffe 1983; Bayart 1993; Rothchild and Chazan eds 1988; Berry 1985; MacGafffey 1987; Joseph 1987; Barns 1986; Kennedy 1988; Rowlands 1993; Warnier

Shumpeterian entrepreneur who innovates new structures

of enterprises by combining various existing

structures, but are seen rather as those politicians, bureaucrats and business people who move between the domains of politics and economy, make use of the apparatus and resources of one to achieve the objectives of the other, and diversify their means to achieve their ends rather than specialising in particular means and seeking to improve them. Of the various means they employ, patron-client relationships that connect them with office holders in the state

ministries, political parties and business

organisations are especially significant. On the one hand, these entrepreneurs are individualistic in their

pursuit of goals and may accumulate considerable

social as well as economic capital, partly by

manipulating patron-client networks. On the other

hand, they are obliged to adhere to norms of

reciprocity in the various social networks in which they are involved, most notably kinship. In this

perspective, the state is considered to be weak,

hollow and even to have failed in its project

(Rothchild and Chazan eds 1988; Mbembe 1992; Davidson 1992). The penetration of patron-client networks and its consequent prebendal politics are apparently

partly responsible for the weakening of the

bureaucratic order of the state (Joseph 1987) .

On the whole, the market economy is based on commerce rather than industry, even though this view is refuted by some scholars (Iliffe 1983; Kennedy 1988; Callaghy 1988; Forrest 1994). The development of working class relations has been observed (Sandbrook and Cohen eds 1975; Lubeck 1986). However, class divisions are vertically intersected by patron-client relationships. Class identities are also bound up with other social identities, most notably ethnic and religious identities. At times, class identities are

merged with other social identities - for examples, it is common that some business people are associated

with particular ethnic identities (Cohen 1969;

Rowlands 1993), while factory workers may solidify

against the management through their religious

identities (Lubeck 1986). At other times, class

identities are neutralised by other identities

heightened identities may shift from class to

ethnicity according to situations (Epstein 1958).

On the whole, it appears to be undeniable that people, from rich politicians to petty traders, have a multiplicity of activities and identities which they

appropriate for their political and economic

interests. Such entrepreneurial endeavour is, however,

apparently characterised with uncertainty and

insecurity (Berry 1985; Callaghy 1988; Schatzberg

1991) . In particular, uncertainty and insecurity

appear to be a remarkable feature of the life of those living in cities.

What is characteristic of urban economy in Africa and other parts of the Third World is the large sector of informal economic sector and the diverse range of social relationships that provide city dwellers with their basic needs outside the context of market exchange (Hart 1973; Gugler and Flanagan 1978; Bromley 1988; Castells and Portes 1989; Gilbert and Gugler 1992; Flanagan 1993). In many countries in the Third World, urbanisation has been accompanied by only limited industrialisation. The major part of urban populations is engaged in trade, craft and service activities, many of which are not recognised by the government nor by trade unions (and are therefore

untaxed and unprotected). Such informal economy

includes an enormous range of activities; some are lucrative and generate higher incomes than many jobs in the formal sector; others are highly competitive and unstable; and yet others are a last resort for

city dwellers and barely provide subsistence. On the other hand, in the formal sector, many jobs are casual and underpaid. A large number of city dwellers are also often out of work, if not permanently (Gilbert and Gugler 1992). In this situation, mobility between jobs appears to be high (Little 1974; Jules-Rosette 1981; Lloyd 1982). It also appears to be a common strategy that urban dwellers attempt to diversify their economic activities.

On the other hand, such economic insecurity is compensated to a degree by the multiplicity of social relationships in which city dwellers are involved (Little 1974; Gugler and Flanagan 1978; Lomnitz 1988) . They are often provided with basic needs such as food

and shelter by their kin, friends, members of

religious organisations, neighbours, voluntary

associations and others. Job opportunities are also

sought through these networks of relationships.

Extended kinship networks not only cut across a city but also connect those in the city with their relatives in the village. Many city dwellers are linked with rural communities and often make visits home. In that sense, they live in a dual system of urban and rural social relationships (Gilbert and Gugler 1992: 159). However, it is apparent that such reciprocal networks of support are not normally sufficient to enable city dwellers to live off them - they cannot simply continue to rely on their relatives and friends. For the majority of city dwellers, their problems are not that they cannot subsist themselves, but that they suffer from economic insecurity and

uncertainty, movement between various casual and

underpaid jobs, self-employment with high competition, and reliance on relative's, friends and others (Hart 1973; Jellinek 1988; Lomnitz 1988). It appears to me to be essential that traditional medicine and crisis management in cities should be understood in this

context.

Thus, it is probable that the cultural field of everyday crises and their management reflects such insecure and uncertain economic conditions of people in urban Africa. Here, traditional medicine may serve as one of the means to cope with the uncertainty and insecurity of lives of urban dwellers. On the other hand, traditional medicine can be seen as one of many informal economic activities. It can be lucrative or highly unstable. Healers may practise healing as a part of an economic diversification strategy and in such cases healers may be one of those entrepreneurs struggling in cities.