We are pleased to offer to our readers the synthesis of the preparatory papers and of the debates held during the Network workshop which took place in April 1994 with the fifteen African and six European participants in this French-speaking Research Programme on "Management and African Cultures".

This special issue is entirely devoted to this synthesis and offers none of the ordinary rubrics.

May the publication of this special issue be at the same time a tribute to one of the participants to this Research Programme, Emmanuel Bahigiki who was massacred during the tragic events in Rwanda. He was passionately interested in the issue of looking for more democratic and just forms of economic activity.

Our appreciation goes to UNESCO's World Decennium for Cultural Development and to the Programme of Struggle against Social Exclusion of the Fondation pour le Progrès de l'Homme, which provided substantial moral and financial support to this Research Programme.

Network Cultures wishes to launch a new Research Programme, this time in English, on a topic yet to be defined with more precision but generally dealing with Economies and Local Cultures in Asia, Latin America, Africa as well as in the older industrialised countries. Suggestions from members, readers and concerned researchers are welcome .