Underdevelopment and class-formation: The origins of migrant labour in Namibia, 1850-1915

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented September 1975In Namibia the evolution of the principal stages of colonial exploitation was telescoped into a 2O-year period under German rule. Only in the 1890s was over, half a century of "informal colonialism", whose chief agents were intinerant traders and missionaries, reinforced by German military intervention. Yet by the outbreak of the Great War, most of the land in southern and central Namibia had been expropriated, some of it already settled with immigrant farmers, internal resistance crushed, and the Namib diamond deposits and Tsumeb copper, today still the territory's main mineral resources, put into full production by international mining capital. None of the sectors of capital which developed during this period had more than a marginal interest in the human resources of the country except as labour-power; and its recruitment, distribution and control was from the start a principal function of colonial administration. However, because of the particular historical conditions of that first phase of colonialisation, the forcible separation of subsistence agriculturalists from their means of production was never completed; and the level of recruitment from the ranks of the dispossessed consistently failed to meet the aggregate labour demand of colonial capital. The closing of this gap with contracted migrant labour, and the latter's long-term reproduction, was therefore the central motive for the conservation of the remaining areas of subsistence production by both German and South African administrations. It is with this section of the Namibian working class that I am concerned in this paper

Underdevelopment and labour migration: the contract labour system in Namibia

This volume reproduces, with minor changes, a set of previously published papers on the history of the origins, formation and evolution of the contract labour system in Namibia from first commercial contact with industrial capitalism in the L 840s through to the onset of final collapse in the early 1970s. The main aim of republication under one cover is to make this work undertaken during 1974-76 and appearing first in the late 1970s, more easily accessible, especially to Namibian readers. The content and referencing of the papers has not be en updated but the presentation has been improved and parts of the text integrated where appropriate

Water supply in the Central Namib Region: A socio-economic study

This study provides an empirical report and analysis of the results of a June/July 1995 household sample survey of the four towns (Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Arandis and Henties Bay) located in the central west coast region of Namibia. It also draws on other primary data sets, in particular 1991 census enumeration area returns and 1994/95 municipal account databases. Its aim is to establish the socioeconomic context of domestic and small business water supply for urban communities in a desert environment and a social structure deeply divided by racially based inequality. Key issues are the present rates and patterns of water consumption; water usage patterns in house and garden; watersaving practices, awareness and attitudes; and likely water consumption responses to increases in charges. The study also assesses respondents views on policy questions of equity and payment, in particular price and non-price methods of reducing water consumption and how to assign the cost burden of additional bulk supply infrastructure

The political economy of Namibia : an annotated critical bibliography

This highly acclaimed bibliography contains more than 2,100 entries, of which over 1,000 are annotated, including books, articles, unpublished reports, conference papers, official publications and periodicals in English, German, Afrikaans and the Nordic languages. It also provides a guide to the major libraries, and research institutes. The first edition of The Political Economy of Namibia received the Conover-Porter award in 1986. Revised and updated edition.Contents: 1. General and introductory -- 2. Geography, water and energy -- 3. Pre-colonial Namibia -- 4. Under German rule, 1884-1915 -- 5. Under South African rule -- 6. The Namibian economy -- 7. The primary sectors -- 8. Workers and peasants under colonial rule -- 9. Women – 10. Education and culture -- 11. Health – 12. Namibia as an international issue -- 13. The struggle for national liberation -- 14. Bibliographies -- 15. Periodical publications -- 16. Theses -- 17. Conference papers -- 18. New titles, 1985-1989 -- 19. Addresses -- 20. Author index</p

The political economy of Namibia : an annotated, critical bibliography

This highly acclaimed bibliography contains more than 2,100 entries, of which over 1,000 are annotated, including books, articles, unpublished reports, conference papers, official publications and periodicals in English, German, Afrikaans and the Nordic languages. It also provides a guide to the major libraries, and research institutes. The first edition of The Political Economy of Namibia received the Conover-Porter award in 1986. Revised and updated edition.CONTENTS: 1. General and introductory -- 2. Geography, water and energy -- 3. Pre-colonial Namibia -- 4. Under German rule, 1884-1915 -- 5. Under South African rule -- 6. The Namibian economy -- 7. The primary sectors -- 8. Workers and peasants under colonial rule -- 9. Women – 10. Education and culture -- 11. Health – 12. Namibia as an international issue -- 13. The struggle for national liberation -- 14. Bibliographies -- 15. Periodical publications -- 16. Theses -- 17. Conference papers -- 18. New titles, 1985-1989 -- 19. Addresses -- 20. Author index</p

Evaluation of the Social Development Fund in Zimbabwe: A Pilot Study

This study, which was commissioned from Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen, by the African Development Bank (ADB), contains the findings and recommendations of an evaluation of the Social Development Fund (SDF) in Zimbabwe over 1990-95, the period of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme. The study reviews the initial SDF programme design and the mandate of the SDF. It evaluates the performance first of the social welfare and other non-lending components of the SDF programme, then of the small enterprise lending and training components of the SDF. It proceeds to review the design of the more broadly conceived Poverty Alleviation Action Plan, its relationship with the SDF during the programme period and future options for its integration with the SDF. The study concludes with an assessment of the available options for the future development of the SDF's welfare and credit programmes; and recommendations on possible forms of follow-up intervention by the ADB. Richard Moorsom is a historian policy researcher specialising on Namibia and southern Africa. A member of CMI's research staff since 1989, he is currently on leave of absence working as a research historian for the Waitangi Tribunal, Wellington, New Zealand. Dr. Lloyd Sachikonye is a senior researcher at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe, Harare. The social and political dimensions of structural adjustment in Zimbabwe have formed a particular focus of his work, which includes a recent study of industrial restructuring and labour