Innovations in a Plantation Economy: A Study of the Barbadian Small Farmer
Identifieur interne : 000225 ( Istex/Corpus ); précédent : 000224; suivant : 000226Innovations in a Plantation Economy: A Study of the Barbadian Small Farmer
Auteurs : Jamal Khan ; Richard B. KnightSource :
- Journal of Entrepreneurship [ 0971-3557 ] ; 1997-03.
Abstract
This study examines innovations in small farm agriculture by looking at the extent of technological change in the plantation economy of Barbados. It seeks to establish that small farmer innovations in Barbados are not based on indigenous knowledge, but on imported technology and, as a result, the farming system has moved from a low external input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA) to high external input agriculture (HEIA). The authors observe a shift in small farmer entrepreneurship from the hawker system towards marketing cooperatives.
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DOI: 10.1177/097135579700600106
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<meta-value>87 Innovations in a Plantation Economy: A Study of the Barbadian Small Farmer SAGE Publications, Inc.1997DOI: 10.1177/097135579700600106 Jamal Khan Department of Management Studies, University of the West Indies, Barbados Richard B.Knight Department of Management Studies, University of the West Indies, Barbados This study examines innovations in small farm agriculture by looking at the extent of technological change in the plantation economy of Barbados. It seeks to establish that small farmer innovations in Barbados are not based on indigenous knowledge, but on imported technology and, as a result, the farming system has moved from a low external input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA) to high external input agriculture (HEIA). The authors observe a shift in small farmer entrepreneurship from the hawker system towards marketing cooperatives. The 'plantation economy' concept constituted a central theme in the intellectual development of social sciences during the 1970s. In the Caribbean it was developed as a principal building block of radical theoretical perspectives on the political economy of underdevelopment.~ 1 The plantation economy is a form of dependent capitalism centred on agricultural production in plantation units. Its major features are foreign domination, the production of cash crops for export and a drain on local wealth; the consolidation and monopoly control of resources-land, labour, credit and the like; rigid race/class social distinctions and hierarchies ; political elitism and patronage; state conservatism and support for the system; marginalisation of peasantry and domestic market; the suppression of indigenous entrepreneurship and creativity; and persistent poverty and alienation for the majority of the population.' According to Barrow, the plantation system has affected the innova- tiveness of small farmers. She further defines the small farmer as one who farms or occupies a landholding below ten acres. The small farm sector 9288 remains marginalised, surviving in the shadow of the plantation. Moreover, small holdings are disadvantaged by their location in areas of poorer quality, soil and rainfall. For the small farmer, the infrastructure remains underdeveloped. Research and development for small farming is insufficient, and the lack of coordination is a perpetual flaw. Extension services as well as training to improve management and conservation practices are inadequate. Technology has remained virtually unchanged for generations. Farmers continue to rely heavily on traditional tools, mainly, the fork, hoe and machete. Irrigation is generally lacking. Barbadian small farm agriculture has not experienced any significant innovation so far. Here we define an innovation as the creation of any product, service or process which is new to an organisational unit.3 While innovation is often associated with major product or process development, the vast majority of successful innovations are based on the cumulative effects of incremental change in products and processes, or the creative combination of existing techniques, ideas or methods. Effective innovation requires the synthesis of market needs and technological possibility and a change in the way a product is made or a service provided. We also recognise the typology of innovation put forward by Tushman and Nadler, viz., product and process, and the three dimensions identified by them- incremental, synthetic and discontinuous. This study is based on observations from two farming districts in Barbados-Gibbons Boggs in the parish of Christ Church and the Springhall Land Lease Project in the parish of St Lucy. Data was obtained from the Barbados Agricultural Society, the Integrated Rural Development Project and T. Geddes Grant (Barbados) Ltd. The study considers a vegetable to be a produce/product and looks at the relatively new ways in which farmers produce and market vegetables. In addition to identifying the type of innovation, it classifies the innovations as discontinuous, that is, it views discontinuous process innovation as a new way of producing products or services. Major process innovations reduce cost, improve acceptance and increase quality, although they require new skills and new approaches to organising. The application of significant new technology in small farmer vegetable production is determined by the various factors of production, namely, labour, land, water and finance, and how effectively the various technologies are utilised to enhance production. Another aspect of small farming is the sale of produce. This brings into focus the entrepreneurship of the small farmer and innovations that have been made in the last few decades in the marketing and sale of vegetables. Reference is made here 9389 to the farming system, local marketing information systems and the establishment of small farmer cooperatives. Small Farming in Barbados Historically, in Barbados, the production of sugarcane characterised the farm system from the plantation down to subsistence farming, except for some seasonal production of yams, sweet potatoes, eddoes and cassava. Nearly all research and development activity was centred around sugar production. By the late 1960s small farmers increased their acreage of sugar production to approximately 80 per cent from 55.5 per cent in 1946. By 1971, it had again declined to 65 per cent. It is notable that, historically, small farmers adopted a farming system similar to that of the plantations. In cases where vegetables were produced, a farming system based on low external input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA) was used. The LEISA farming system focused mainly on the efficient use of local resources. It refers to those forms of agriculture that utilise locally available resources by combining the different components of the farm system-plants, animals, soil, water, climate and people-so that they complement each other and have the greatest synergistic effects. For example, the use of bagasse and poultry manure is considered LEISA. External inputs are only used to the extent that they are needed to provide elements that are deficient in the ecosystem and to enhance available biological, physical and human resources.4 It has been found that for the production of vegetables, the farmers were using technologies transferred to them by the plantation system until the 1970s. IRDP: The Vehicle for Small Farmer Innovation It was not until the 1980s that many developing countries across the globe adopted integrated rural development projects in one form or another. Barbados, like many others, introduced this kind of project intervention under the aegis of the Barbados Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC). This brought with it high external input agriculture (HEIA), which depends heavily on artificial chemical inputs-fertilisers and pesticides-hybrid seeds, mechanisation based on fossil fuels and irrigation.' This phase of agricultural development significantly changed the context in which Barbadian small farmers were operating. Innovations were largely in the field of new technology (for instance, hand ploughs, new 9490 generation pesticides, sprinkler and drip irrigation, motorised sprayers and the propagation of seedlings), the farming systems, and marketing. If we assume that innovation is derived from a process, then we must consider that it is also a function of project development which is a series of processes. The Integrated Rural Development Project (IRDP) represents an innovation in the agricultural policy of the Government of Barbados (GOB). It did emerge out of the concern that development projects must be technically, organisationally and operationally viable so that they are consistent with and blend into the intended biological and physical setting, produce an output that is in demand, and meet the economic, financial and other requirements of the participants. Further, such projects are generally mechanisms for the purposive transfer of a new technology.' The Rural Development Project as well as the Springhall Land Lease Project are representative of innovations in the field of small farmer development which transferred new technology to the Barbadian small farmer. The IRDP catered to twenty-two development units in St Philip, Christ Church, St Georgem and Haggatt Hall. It sought to diversify small farm agriculture from sugarcane production and subsistence agriculture to efficient commercial crop production systems. As Nurse observes, the IRDP was designed to increase agricultural diversification and food production in Barbados to supply the domestic and tourist demand for foodstuffs.' The project incorporated both tenantries and small-holder families, providing them with feeder roads, tractor cultivation, irrigation systems, extension, marketing services and credit. After its introduction, the IRDP has significantly increased the agricultural activities among small farmers. The extent of use of extension services by farmers increased from 29.6 per cent to 87.5 per cent. Similarly, tractor cultivation increased from 50.7 per cent to 81.7 per cent. 8 The Springhall Land Lease Project was a less intensive and more specialised project in St Lucy. The GOB, through the BADC, leased its plantation land to some twenty-five small farmers. It provided irrigation and tractor cultivation and allowed farmers to build their houses on the land with loans from the Barbados National Bank. Farmers in this project were allowed to establish any type of crop or start livestock production as well as plant sugarcane. Transfer of technology had thus begun, and it became evident that public sector policy would have to consider new marketing strategies in the light of the increased production of vegetable crops on approximately 800 acres. 9591 New Technology for Small 1~arming: Types of Innovation Enquiries from forty-two farmers in the IRDP and the Springhall Land Lease Project showed that they are not pursuing the LEISA system but have adopted the HEIA system. The extent to which project farmers in St Lucy and Gibbon Boggs are utilising new technology is indicated in Appendix 1. Earlier in this study, innovation was defined as discontinuous process activities involving new ways of producing a product or service. In Barbadian agriculture, the change from the fork to mechanised implements (such as the two-wheel tiller) or the change from the garden hose to drip irrigation are examples of discontinuous process innovation. These are new ways of producing vegetable crops. The Barbadian farmer, given his place within the plantation economy, has shifted from the fork to mechanised implements, from sprinkler to drip irrigation, and from compressed to motorised sprayers. With each innovation, the farmer requires new skills and new applications. What is significant about these innovations in Barbados' dual agriculture sector is the fact that the innovations have not been indigenous but have been transferred from the United States, United Kingdom and Japan. Much of this transfer has been at the initiative of the representatives of foreign manufacturers. The small farmer, nevertheless, has adapted the technology and has used it to his benefit. The distributive trade for agricultural equipment indicates that other farmers own suitable cultivation and spraying equipment. Since the establishment in the early 1980s of the two rural projects, innovation at the small farmer level has been steady and has, in many cases, been at a more rapid pace than in the plantations. Technology is not transferred in a single identifiable event.9 Rather, it is a process, an evolution, a concomitant aspect of productive growth. Agricultural innovations generally involve a sequence or configuration of objects, skills and facilities. The transfer can be accomplished through the market-place, given the intrinsic advantages, attractiveness and availability of innovation. Barbadian small farmers in the plantation economy have been able to apply the new technology mainly due to their level of educational attainment and their desire to quickly move away from the plantation system of agriculture to own-account diversification programmes. 9692 Drip Irrigation What are the reasons for innovations? The focus here will be on drip irrigation, tractor cultivation, motorised power sprayers and the improved propagation techniques used in small farm agriculture. Water is one of the most valuable resources needed in agricultural production. For vegetables, the requirement for water is significant. In Barbados, vegetable farming is affected by the seasonal pattern of rainfall. The region experiences only 150 cm of rainfall per year, most of which falls between June and December. This rainfall has contributed in part to the seasonal nature of non-crop production and the resulting difficulties in domestic marketing.'" With the implementation of the IRDP and the Springhall Land Lease Project, irrigation water was made available to farmers. But even with the irrigation infrastructure, there was no substantial decrease in the price of water. The study showed that farmers, realising the high cost of sprinkler irrigation, are moving towards drip irrigation as a means of controlling the amount of water for vegetable production. In fact, 100 per cent of the Springhall farmers and 71.4 per cent of the Gibbon Boggs farmers are currently using drip irrigation. This innovation in small farmer agriculture was first introduced in the island by an Israeli team of agriculturalists around 1986. Drip irrigation is the slow distribution of water through surface tubes or tapes (polyethylene) of the one-inch diameter which are perforated with small pores (emitters). The water comes through the emitters at various flow rates ranging from half to 4 gallons per hour. The innovation of drip irrigation represents an agricultural technology which allows for better control of the distribution of water by the farmer. Small farmers, when using the overhead sprinkler system, were less efficient in the distribution of water. Many farmers consider that their water consumption is reduced by as much as 30 per cent as compared to overhead sprinkler systems. Water through the sprinkler system was dispatched to areas of the field where it was not required. With drip irrigation the water is directed towards the root zone. As a consequence of controlling distribution, the conditions for weed growth are minimised, which in turn substantially reduces the cost of labour and herbicides. Another innovation introduced with the advent of drip irrigation is the process of fertilising the crops. In the old system of farming, farmers would apply nitrogen fertilisers by hand, scattering them over the field. With drip irrigation farmers can now apply potassium nitrate in a soluble 9793 form to each plant. This process is called 'fertigation'. Also, as compared to plantation and subsistence farming where more animal manure is used, in the HEIA system farmers not only apply artificial fertilisers, but can direct them to each plant by spraying them in a soluble form on to the leaves. This process is called 'foliar fertigation'. The Gibbon Boggs farmers art observed to be readily moving toward drip irrigation systems and fertigation. Tractor Cultivation Tractor cultivation is the preparation of the land for planting. Depending on the crop, various tillage operations are used. The primary tillage operation is ploughing, followed by furrowing. If there is a need for direct planting, then a seed planting operation is done. The GOB, in an effort to diversify agriculture, offered various tillage operations to the small farmers through the Ministry of Agriculture at subsidised rates. With the advent of the IRDP, a tractor cultivation exercise was made available to project farmers at subsidised rates. The tractor service catered to all project farmers in the project areas. A large percentage of farmers, who once used hired labour to fork their plots, are now serviced by the new technology, described as 'mechanisation based on fossil fuels'. As an input this is an imported technology which is more timely, less labour intensive, cheaper and precise. However, there is one drawback in this innovation where tractors are used. Many project farmers have less than half an acre of land, and heavy tractors and their implements cannot turn easily within this confined land space. The result is compaction of the soil. This, along with inefficiency in the tractor service, has prompted small farmers to look for viable alternatives. A private sector organisation-T. Geddes Grant's Farm and Garden Shop, a leader in small farm implements in the country-reported that they sold fifty tillers over a five-year period to small-scale producers, including female farmers. The tillers, usually British or American, are light two-wheel implements with rotating tines. These are driven by a five or eight horsepower engine and can rotate the soil to a depth of 10-12 inches. The machine is operated by the farmer who walks behind it as the tillage is done. These developments have enabled the farmer to prepare the land at a much faster rate without waiting for the project's service. The waiting period of completion of an entire tillage operation-ploughing, rotating and furrowing-is one month on an average. The use of the tiller replaces 9894 the fork and the large tractor as both are time-consumifig. Innovation in the form of the switch over from the fork and heavy tractor to a light machine, which uses less fuel on vegetable plots, is usually found on plots of less than half an acre. But in situations where the size of the land is one acre or more, farmers who can afford credit purchase four-wheel tractors and primary tillage attachments. Motorised Sprayers ' The use of pesticides by small farmers is probably a new agricultural activity when one considers the history of Barbadian peasant farming. What is more important in terms of innovation is the change from the compress or piston knapsack sprayer to the motorised knapsack sprayer. Farmers, until the late 1980s, used the Cooper Pegler knapsack sprayer. They would mount this on their backs and pump with a hand lever as they walked through the fields. Though adequate for the job, this type of spraying was time-consuming as farmers had to pump continuously to maintain a constant pressure. A dramatic change came about when pests (like the diamond back moth, white flies and thrips) became a major agricultural problem for small farmers growing cabbage, cauliflower and melons throughout the island. It became necessary to dispense the pesticide at greater pressure (psi) and, as a result, the sales of motorised knapsack sprayers increased over the last five years. The small farmer is now working with a more efficient sprayer, which reduces the time the farmer spends controlling pests. Moreover, with a high pressure of 300 psi, the pesticide is atomised, resulting in a mist around the invaded plant and ensuring better control of the pests. The motorised sprayer is not widely used in plantations because the farming system there is centred around sugarcane production which does not attract many insects. Most of the spraying is done in sugar estates with tractor-mounted boom sprayers to control weeds. Seed Propagation To ensure the maximum growth of vegetable crops, the small farmer has also changed his techniques of planting the crop. The traditional way of planting crops such as melons, cabbage, herbs, thyme, marjoram and tomatoes was to sow the seeds in a nursery bed and cover them with a coconut branch. This resulted in elongated seedlings and poor quality crops. Today, the small farmer buys plastic seedling trays. Each tray has 9995 128 cells. Compost material is placed in each cell. The seed is put into the cell and nurtured until the young plant is strong enough to be placed in the field without damaging the root system. So popular is seedling in Barbados that there are currently three small businesses producing seedlings for small farmers. Marketing Strategies There are two important innovations in the marketing of small farmers' produce: marketing cooperatives and a marketing information system. These innovations contribute significantly towards fostering entrepreneurship among small vegetable producers. Prior to 1961, much of the marketing and sale of non-sugar produce was done by the farmer or the hawker in the various farmlands throughout Barbados. By 1961, the Barbados Marketing Corporation (BMC) was established and entrusted with the responsibility of stimulating, facilitating and processing activities, particularly among the producers. The problems were many, including inadequate storage facilities and management conflicts. In 1983, the BMC started operating a produce intake unit which accounted for 7 per cent of the non-sugar crops marketed. This system contracted farmers, but the farmers sold their produce where high prices were given, thus using the BMC outlet as the last resort. When the BMC marketing programme for locally-produced vegetables disintegrated towards the end of the 1980s, the IRDP was innovative in its service to small farmers. It coordinated many marketing activities with local agriculture-based institutions, such as the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), the Caribbean Agricultural Trading Company (CATCO) and the BMC. To provide effective service, a marketing officer was employed to train farmers in storage and post-harvest techniques. For the first time in Barbados, small farmers were paying attention to the handling of crops during harvest and transportation. Of all the marketing functions, what was significant was the development of a marketing intelligence system by the IRDP's marketing officer. This activity became a coordinated programme between the BMC and the IRDP and was called the Barbados Agricultural Statistical Information Service (BASIS). The main aim of BASIS, under the aegis of the BMC, was to network among the BAS, supermarkets and the IRDP farmers. The BASIS system can be described as the hub-and-spoke networking model." The system collected information from the small farmer, the sugar estates growing 10096 vegetables, BAS farmers and supermarkets, and then channelled it in the form of a report to the farming community and the consumers. For the farmers, it was a source of production data on what was planted in the field, while the consumer was informed of prices and the availability of the crop. These innovations in Barbados' agriculture have helped develop farmers as entrepreneurs, marketers and risk-takers. No longer are small farmers planting first and then hoping for sales. They have started producing for specific markets, paying attention to the customers' needs. As a result, Barbados saw its first successful marketing cooperative, the St George Farmers' Marketing Cooperative. The cooperative was established in the early 1990s with the objective of retailing its members' produce to the residents of St George and establishing relationships with public sector organisations such as hospitals, polyclinics, the prison and the School Meals Department for the purpose of supplying vegetables and fruits. To achieve this, farmers sought the help of the IRDP extension staff. A project was designed and implemented, with funding assistance from the United States Aid for International Development, which facilitated the purchase of cold storage facilities by farmers. Thus began the process of other small farmers' cooperatives being established in Barbados. Today, there are three other cooperatives in operation-the Springhall Land Lease Cooperative, the Food Crop Farmers Cooperative and the St Philip Farmers' Cooperative-all seeking better markets for their members' crops. These cooperatives are progressing towards achieving their objectives and members are gaining from their entrepreneurship. Conclusion While examining the innovations in the small farming system in Barbados within a plantation economy, this study has shown that the small farmer, once influenced by the plantation system, has shifted to a HEIA system, which utilises imported technology. What is significant is that the transfer of technology has made the farmer more efficient by reducing the cultivation and spraying time, ensuring the effective and prudent utilisation of water, focusing sharply on farm management and operations, and facilitating close identification with the farmers' cooperative movement. Equally remarkable is the fact that the transfer of technology and the concomitant diffusion of innovation have made farmers more responsive in their overall outlook and operation. 10197 Small farmers, over the years, have become active entrepreneurs by turning existing marketing cooperatives into goal-oriented, economy- seeking commercial entities. More significantly, public policy, systemic trends and related projects have cumulatively given rise to a situation that allows for small farmer innovation. APPENDIX 1 Springhall Land Lease Project: Utilisation of New Technology by Small Farmers 10298 Notes 1. Lloyd Best, Economic Structure in the West Indies (Kingston, Jamaica: Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1960); George Beckford, Persistent Poverty (London: Oxford University Press, 1972). 2. See Christine Barrow, The Plantation Heritage in Barbados: Implications for Food Security, Nutrition and Employment (Cave Hill, Barbados: Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1995). 3. This definition follows Michael Tushman and David Nadler, 'Organising for Innovation', California Management Review, XXVIII-3 (1986). 4. Coen Reijntjes, Farming for the Future: An Introduction to Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (London: Macmillan, 1992). 5. Ibid. 6. Joseph Molnar and Howard Clonts (eds), Technology as a Source of Economic and Social Advancement in Developing Countries (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1983). 7. James Nurse, Integrated Rural Development Project (Christ Church, Barbados: Min istry of Agriculture, 1992). 8. Ibid. 9. Molnar and Clonts, Technology as a Source (no. 6 above). 10. Nurse, Integrated Rural Development Project (no. 7 above). 11. John Nelson and John Farrington, Information Exchange Networking for Agricultural Development (Ede-Wageningen, Netherlands: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, 1994).</meta-value>
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<back><notes><p>1. Lloyd Best, <italic>Economic Structure in the West Indies</italic>
(Kingston, Jamaica: Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1960); George Beckford, <italic>Persistent Poverty</italic>
(London: Oxford University Press, 1972).</p>
<p>2. See Christine Barrow, <italic> The Plantation Heritage in Barbados: Implications for Food Security, Nutrition and Employment</italic>
(Cave Hill, Barbados: Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1995).</p>
<p>3. This definition follows Michael Tushman and David Nadler, 'Organising for Innovation', <italic>California Management Review,</italic>
XXVIII-3 (1986).</p>
<p>4. Coen Reijntjes, <italic> Farming for the Future: An Introduction to Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture</italic>
(London: Macmillan, 1992).</p>
<p>5. Ibid.</p>
<p>6. Joseph Molnar and Howard Clonts (eds), <italic>Technology as a Source of Economic and Social Advancement in Developing Countries</italic>
(Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1983).</p>
<p>7. James Nurse, <italic>Integrated Rural Development Project</italic>
(Christ Church, Barbados: Min istry of Agriculture, 1992).</p>
<p>8. Ibid.</p>
<p>9. Molnar and Clonts, <italic> Technology as a Source</italic>
(no. 6 above).</p>
<p>10. Nurse, <italic>Integrated Rural Development Project</italic>
(no. 7 above).</p>
<p>11. John Nelson and John Farrington, <italic>Information Exchange Networking for Agricultural Development</italic>
(Ede-Wageningen, Netherlands: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, 1994).</p>
</notes>
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<mods version="3.6"><titleInfo lang="en"><title>Innovations in a Plantation Economy: A Study of the Barbadian Small Farmer</title>
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<titleInfo type="alternative" lang="en" contentType="CDATA"><title>Innovations in a Plantation Economy: A Study of the Barbadian Small Farmer</title>
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<name type="personal"><namePart type="given">Jamal</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Khan</namePart>
<affiliation>Department of Management Studies, University of the West Indies, Barbados</affiliation>
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<name type="personal"><namePart type="given">Richard B.</namePart>
<namePart type="family">Knight</namePart>
<affiliation>Department of Management Studies, University of the West Indies, Barbados</affiliation>
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<dateIssued encoding="w3cdtf">1997-03</dateIssued>
<copyrightDate encoding="w3cdtf">1997</copyrightDate>
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<abstract lang="en">This study examines innovations in small farm agriculture by looking at the extent of technological change in the plantation economy of Barbados. It seeks to establish that small farmer innovations in Barbados are not based on indigenous knowledge, but on imported technology and, as a result, the farming system has moved from a low external input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA) to high external input agriculture (HEIA). The authors observe a shift in small farmer entrepreneurship from the hawker system towards marketing cooperatives.</abstract>
<relatedItem type="host"><titleInfo><title>Journal of Entrepreneurship</title>
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<identifier type="ISSN">0971-3557</identifier>
<identifier type="eISSN">0973-0745</identifier>
<identifier type="PublisherID">JOE</identifier>
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<part><date>1997</date>
<detail type="volume"><caption>vol.</caption>
<number>6</number>
</detail>
<detail type="issue"><caption>no.</caption>
<number>1</number>
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<extent unit="pages"><start>87</start>
<end>98</end>
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<identifier type="istex">A53B707005CA8FF61C13EF62279001F978155E2A</identifier>
<identifier type="DOI">10.1177/097135579700600106</identifier>
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