Stefan Schirmer

Soil Conservation in a Racially Ordered Society: South Africa 1930-1970

This paper examines the ways in which the formulation and implementation of strategies of soil conservation in South Africa during the period 1930–1970 were powerfully influenced by racist attitudes and by the differential political and economic position of whites and blacks within the systems of segregation and apartheid. The paper traces and compares the evolution of state intervention in pursuit of soil conservation in relation to white farmlands and African reserves with a particular emphasis on processes in the Transvaal. The forms of state intervention that emerged provoked bitter resistance in many African communities while they unintentionally supported inefficient and destructive practices amongst many white farmers. The policies took different forms, changed over time and had diverse consequences. But they did achieve an overall uniformity of outcome ‐ they failed to live up to the expectations of conservationists. The paper seeks to demonstrate that there were problems both with excessively coercive and excessively cooperative policy approaches, which suggests that a policy framework that strikes a balance between the two extremes is likely to be more successful.

The state and scope of the economic history of developing regions

ABSTRACT This paper examines the state and scope of the study of economic history of developing regions, underlining the importance of knowledge of history for economic development. While the quality of the existing research on developing countries is impressive, the proportion of published research focusing on these regions is low. The dominance of economic history research on the North American and Western European success stories suggests the need for a forum for future research that contributes to our understanding of how institutions, path dependency, technological change and evolutionary processes shape economic growth in the developing parts of the world. Many valuable data sets and historical episodes relating to developing regions remain unexplored, and many interesting questions unanswered. This is exciting. Economic historians and other academics interested in the economic past have an opportunity to work to begin to unlock the complex reasons for differences in development, the factors behind economic disasters and the dynamics driving emerging success stories.

Motives for mechanisation in South African agriculture, c1940–1980

The motives behind major economic transformations are probably less important than the effects these transformations have had on economy and society. Nevertheless, the factors that caused an economic shift are inherently interesting and they may have consequences for the future direction and the sustain-ability of a given economic path. This paper analyses largely qualitative evidence that suggests that many farmers, across the country and for a long period of time, were motivated to adopt more and better mechanical implements by a dissatisfaction with the state of agricultural labour relations.

African Strategies and Ideologies in a White Farming District: Lydenburg, 1930-1970

This paper examines the character and impact of African resistance in the white farming district of Lydenburg from 1930 to 1970. The paper shows that, in the 1930s, African labour tenants faced pressure from white farmers who demanded more labour and offered less land. Tenants successfully defended their land and their free time, which prompted farmers to call in the state. The state was also unable to overcome the fairly widespread African opposition. Much of this resistance was informed by a determination to maintain some African autonomy and avoid wholesale incorporation into ‘the world of the whites’. In the 1940s deteriorating conditions on the white farms caused many young Africans to look for jobs in the urban areas, which led African families to become more flexible about the need for rural autonomy. Access to rural resources nevertheless remained an important objective. Such strategies were continually shaped by struggles within the family. In the 1950s influx control prevented African urbanisati...

The Future of South African Economic History

ABSTRACT Significant progress has been made recently in South African economic history, but much work remains to be done. In the pages that follow we set out a few potential paths of analysis based on developments within the broader discipline at the level of both methodology and theory. We highlight some of the more interesting developments and then offer suggestions as to how they could open up new avenues of exploration within the South African context.

Land Reform: The State We are In

Lungisile Ntsebeza and Ruth Hall (eds), The Land Question in South Africa: The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution (HSRC Press, 2007, ISBN 0-7969-2163-6). Aninka Claassens and Ben Cousins (eds), Land, Power and Custom: Controversies Generated by South Africas Communal Land Rights Act (UCT Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-91989-550-5). Deborah James, Gaining Ground? Rights and Property in South African Land Reform (Wits University Press, 2007, ISBN10: 1-86814-443-7).

Manufacturers and the Formulation of Industrial Policy in 1920s South Africa

Abstract There are two broad views on the policy role played by manufacturers during the first decades of Union. The influence of manufacturers has either been regarded as insignificant, or they have been held responsible for the narrow protectionism of the post-1924 Hertzog government. This article demonstrates that both judgements are unfair, and that the policy the manufacturers worked with and helped to shape before 1924, was, in many ways, very positive. Within the restrictions of the racial exclusiveness dominant at the time, it was based on a relatively broad and inclusive nationalism, which underpinned the co-operation and support essential for promoting entrepreneurship. The state saw its role within this framework as providing as much assistance to manufacturers as possible, while keeping the long-term needs of the nation firmly in the forefront. In contrast to the idea that manufacturers increased their influence after the 1924 regime change, the paper demonstrates that the opposite occurred, a development that had negative long-run consequences for South Africa.

Re-thinking agricultural development in South Africa: Black commercial farmers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

ABSTRACT This article examines which factors contributed to farmers using land more productively in the past. The article argues that the process behind productivity improvements is strongly associated with, although not confined to, a transition to commercial farming. By focusing on Black farmers who were successful in making this transition, the paper hopes to provide a clear, historically-rooted perspective on the prospects for eradicating the on-going racial divisions within the South African farming sector. The paper starts by defining the concept ‘commercial farming’ and then outlines the challenges that make this type of economic orientation difficult to adopt, as well as pointing to the factors that make some farmers more capable of becoming commercial than others. By reviewing what we know about the ways in which Black farmers responded to economic opportunities – as well as to political and social obstacles – the article provides fresh insight into the factors behind these successes and concludes by assessing the implications of this approach for land reform policy in South Africa.

'What would we be without our land and cattle?' Migrations, land and labour tenants in Mpumalanga, 1940-1950

Abstract The paper is about the impact of migration on labour tenants’ attitudes to land. The quote in the title suggests a close identification with land and cattle; an attitude that reflected labour tenants’ strong ties to a particular lifestyle on white farms. By focusing on the Lydenburg district in the 1940s the paper shows how migration, which only became significant during that decade, affected the attachment to rural resources. Through migration, education and access to urban jobs became important goals. Consequently, the bond to the land was loosened. The paper shows how these transformations were influenced by external as well as by internal factors such as conflict within labour tenant families.