Industrial Decentralisation : Ideal, Theory and Reality

SUMMARY The aim of South African industrial decentralisation policy is to facilitate racial segregation by increasing the proportion of Africans resident in the ‘homelands’. Policy implementation is based on the concept of growth centres. There are theoretical deficiences in this concept, the most useful idea being that of an industrial complex of high?linkage industries at a key location. This suggests that South Africa should have only two or three growth points. Instead, there is a multiplicity of growth points both in the ‘core’ and in the ‘homelands’. Since the theoretical foundations for such a dispersal of industry are weak, it is not surprising that the programme has yielded poor results. It is unlikely to reduce the flow of ‘homeland’ labour to the core or to play a major role in ‘homeland’ employment creation. RÉSUMÉ Décentralisation industrielle : Idéal, théorie et réalité Le but de la politique de décentralisation industrielle en Afrique du Sud est de faciliter la ségrégation raciale en augmentant la proportion d'Africains résidant dans les ‘homelands’. La mise en place de cette politique est basée sur le concept des centres de développement. Ce concept n'est pas sans faiblesses théoriques; l'idée la plus utile est celle d'un complexe industriel d'industries étroitment apparentées implanté à un emplacement clé. Ceci suggère que l'Afrique du Sud ne devrait avoir que deux ou trois points de développement. Au lieu de cela, il y a une multiplicité de points de développement, tant dans le ‘core’ que dans les ‘homelands’. Etant donné que les fondements théoriques d'un tel dispersement de l'industrie sont faibles, il n'est pas surprenant que le programme ait produit de si mauvais résultats. ll est peu probable qu'il puisse réduire l'afflux de main?d'oeuvre des ‘homelands’ vers le ‘core’ ou qu'il puisse jouer un rôle important dans la création d'emplois dans les ‘homelands’. RESUMEN Descentralización industrial : ideal, teoría y realidad El propósito de la política de descentralización industrial de Sudéfrica consiste en facilitar la segregación aumentando la proporción de residentes africanos en los ‘territorios nacionales’. La ejecución de la política se basa en el concepto de los centras de crecimiento. Hay deficiencias teóricas en este concepto, siendo la idea más útil la de un complejo industrial de industries muy vinculadas en una situación clave. Esto sugiere que Sudáfrica debiera tener solamente dos o tres puntos de crecimiento. En su lugar hay múltiples puntos de crecimiento, tanto en el ‘núcleo’ como en los ‘territorios nacionales’. Como los cimientos teóricos para dicha dispersión industrial son débiles, no sorprende que el programa haya conseguido escasos resultados. Es improbable que reduzca el flujo de mano de obra de los ‘territorios nacionales’ hacia el núcleo ó para desempeñar una función importante en la creación de empleo en los ‘territorios nacionales’

Basotho Women Migrants : a Case Study

SUMMARY The focus of most research on Lesotho has been the political, social, and economic impact of male migrant labour. But under the resultant strains of agricultural decline, rural poverty, and marital instability, many Basotho women also went as migrants during the first half of this century, they are now prohibited from legally doing so by ‘influx control’ measures which maintain oscillating male migration. The social life of rural Basotho women has been profoundly affected by the experience of those who once lived and worked in South Africa but are now relegated to unemployment on the rural periphery. RÉSUMÉ Migration des femmes du Basotho : Une étude de cas Le thème central de la plupart des recherches sur le Lesotho a été l'effet économique, social et politique de la migration de la main?d'oeuvre masculine. Mais le résultat a été que les tensions causées par le déclin de l'agriculture, la pauvreté rurale et l'instabilité maritale, ont amené un grand nombre de femmes du Basotho à émigrer elles aussi tout au long de la première moitié de ce siècle; la loi leur interdit maintenant d'émigrer au moyen de mesures contrôlant les entrées et maintenant une émigration masculine fluctuante. La vie sociale des femmes rurales du Basotho a été profondément affectée par l'expérience de celles qui ont vécu et travaillé en Afrique du Sud et sont maintenant réduites au chômage dans la périphérie rurale. RESUMEN Las mujeres emigrantes de Basotho: un estudio de caso La mayoría de la investigación en Lesotho se ha enfocado hacia las repercusiones políticas, sociales y económicas de la mano de obra emigratoria masculina. Pero bajo las tensiones resultantes de la decadencia agrícola, la pobreza rural y la inestabilidad matrimonial, numerosas mujeres de Basotho también se convirtieron en emigrantes durante la primera mitad de este siglo, aunque en la actualidad les está prohibido hacerlo legalmente mediante medidas de ‘control de influjo’ que mantienen una emigración masculina oscilante. La vida social de las mujeres rurales de Basotho se ha visto profundamente afectada por la experiencia de las que trabajaron y vivieron alguna vez en Africa del Sur pero en la actualidad se hallan condenadas al paro en la periferia rural

The edge of the periphery: situating the ≠Khomani San of the Southern Kalahari in the political economy of Southern Africa

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in African Identities on 14/04/16, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14725843.2016.1154813In this article, we situate the Southern Kalahari San within the political economy of Southern Africa and within the world system. Here we draw on and critique modernization theory as a model of explanation for the lack of development found locally. In the Southern Kalahari, the ≠Khomani San won a massive land claim that should have empowered and enabled local development. Yet they remain largely impoverished, while seeking out a meaningful life on the edge of the capitalist world system. Within states, contradictions remain as local diversity continues to be reproduced and modernity itself is reproduced as local diversity. The research is premised on empirical fieldwork conducted in the Southern Kalahari in 2013 and supported by a series of earlier field research over the previous five years. The San of the Southern Kalahari are not resisting modernity but drawing on aspects of it selectively for their own vision of meaningful development

Introduction: Agrarian change, rural poverty and land reform in South Africa since 1994

This introduction sketches the context and dynamics of agrarian change, rural poverty and land reform since the end of apartheid in 1994, drawing attention to structural continuities and new elements in the countrysides of South Africa, and of the Southern African region in which South Africa must be located. Two key historical and theoretical reference points help focus attention on some central issues: the ‘classic’ model of dispossession/accumulation in South(ern) Africa, and ‘decentralized despotism’ as the distinctive mode and legacy of colonial governance. In conclusion, we introduce the papers as contributions to answering some central questions which require further research and debate.Web of Scienc

Archive of Darkness:William Kentridge's Black Box/Chambre Noire

Situating itself in histories of cinema and installation art, William Kentridge's Black Box/Chambre Noire (2005) raises questions about screens, exhibition space, site-specificity and spectatorship. Through his timely intervention in a debate on Germany’s colonial past, Kentridge’s postcolonial art has contributed to the recognition and remembrance of a forgotten, colonial genocide. This article argues that, by transposing his signature technique of drawings for projection onto a new set of media, Kentridge explores how and what we can know through cinematic projection in the white cube. In particular, his metaphor of the illuminated shadow enables him to animate archival fragments as shadows and silhouettes. By creating a multi-directional archive, Black Box enables an affective engagement with the spectres of colonialism and provides a forum for the calibration of moral questions around reparation, reconciliation and forgiveness

Contextualising Apartheid at the End of Empire: Repression, ‘Development’ and the Bantustans

This article examines the global dynamics of late colonialism and how these informed South African apartheid. More specifically, it locates the programmes of mass relocation and bantustan ‘self-government’ that characterised apartheid after 1959 in relation to three key dimensions. Firstly, the article explores the global circulation of idioms of ‘development’ and trusteeship in the first half of the twentieth century and its significance in shaping segregationist policy; secondly, it situates bantustan ‘selfgovernment’ in relation to the history of decolonisation and the partitions and federations that emerged as late colonial solutions; and, thirdly, it locates the tightening of rural village planning in the bantustans after 1960 in relation to the elaboration of anti-colonial liberation struggles, repressive southern African settler politics and the Cold War. It argues that, far from developing policies that were at odds with the global ‘wind of change’, South African apartheid during the 1960s and 1970s reflected much that was characteristic about late colonial strategy