This is the story, in images and words, of some special moments I shared with Robin from in Brighton until his death in Forty years of friendship, full of exciting projects, each new one more so than the last. He was very interested in the work I had just been doing in Angola. He was then preparing a seminar on development strategies for around thirty economic leaders from various Third World countries. Each of the three groups was to define and defend a development strategy for three key economic sectors of the country: oil, diamonds and coffee.
For each participant, we prepared a file on these three sectors with numerical data, so that they could make the appropriate calculations. The participants immersed themselves in this game, arguing rigorously about the economic and political benefits of their own proposals and the drawbacks of opposing strategies. In the case of oil, the confrontation centred on the respective advantages of a partnership with a multinational company, with the USSR or with Algeria.
With regard to diamonds, the debate was whether, on the one hand, to continue collaborating with the South African De Beers in one of two potential ways, each with a different requirement with regard to royalties, or, on the other, to seek freedom from this domination by pursuing an alliance with the USSR.
After a week of intense debates chaired expertly by Robin, the participants all stressed how much the game had helped them to think through the various dimensions of a development strategy. Robin lost no time in inviting me to join the Brighton Labour Process Group BLPG , an informal group that reflected on issues connected with the process of work.
Every Friday evening, we would either analyse the labour process in a particular sector, such as industry, agriculture, education, health, communication or national defence The minutes of these meetings, always written up by Robin, are treasure troves of reflection and questioning. They teem with new ideas, of which some were not even mentioned in our discussions.
