Mike Kidron’s 1957 Balliol College, Oxford University, M. Litt., thesis, Problems and patterns of development in overpopulated backward countries with special reference to Indonesia, is a long-forgotten academic gem. It is here that Mike cut his teeth in the field of development economics, teeth that were to become fully developed in the following years both through his professional roles and also his writings. In the former were periods spent with the Royal Institute of International Affairs and with the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, in the latter with books such as Foreign Investments in India and Pakistan’s Trade with Eastern Bloc Countries.
The thesis is a remarkable achievement, in a whole number of ways. Firstly, it marshals an impressive array of facts and figures and puts them together in a remarkably coherent manner that has a logical flow from proposition to potential answers. Secondly, it never loses sight of its goal – Mike might take the occasional detour – but they are always used to illuminate issues and clarify problems. Thirdly, is a clear understanding, one might say mastery, of the subject matter – but without in any way saying that this is the correct answer – it is, always, one possibility. Finally, it is so very well written.
As regards the standard of writing one cannot but feel that a comparison with Tony Cliff’s writings on Russia and China of the same period should serve as a comparison. Whilst Cliff serves up impressive arrays of facts and figures, his is served in a dish akin to a stodgy rice pudding. Kidron’s is served as fine dining.
What is all the more remarkable is how Kidron found time to complete his work. One only has to study Kidron’s correspondence files and meeting diaries of the time (as I have done) and look at his political and agitational writing output to be truly amazed.
At 289 pages the thesis is far too long to be able to reproduce in full. The best I can do to give a flavour of this important work in the Mike Kidron back catalogue is to provide some selected extracts. I am not an economist, so the selection here is bound to be coloured by my own interests and experiences – but I hope anyone can take something from what is presented.
The original of the thesis is held at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University. A copy is held by the Kidron family.
Last updated on 10 April 2020