Dualism or underdevelopment in South Africa: what does a quantitative assessment of poverty,inequality and employment reveal?

Debate over the nature of South African society has continued through the first decade of democratic government, including the question of a ‘First’ and a ‘Second’ economy. This paper focuses on the numbers and characteristics of those who might fit into the ‘Second’. The data examined suggest that both poverty and inequality have increased in South Africa since 1993, while also suggesting the presence of poverty traps that may hinder mobility and prevent individuals getting ahead despite the dramatic economic and political reforms since 1994. We estimate that some 6.2 million could be described as belonging to the ‘Second’ economy. However, we argue that there is more to the relationship between those who are marginalised and those who are benefiting from South Africa's achievement than a dualistic and disarticulated ‘First’ and ‘Second’ economy. Linkages of inclusion and exclusion determine the size, characteristics and future of the two economies.     

A development framework for Gazankulu,Institute of Development studies,RAU, 1983

This review of A development framework for Gazankulu by the Institute of Development Studies, Rand Afrikaans University, 1983, has three parts. In the first I take issue with the notion of assessing Gazankulu within a ‘national development policy’ context, and argue that doing so muddles our understanding of the problems and policy possibilities. In the second part the goals of the Framework, its data base and recommendations, are considered more directly. Having noted certain problems, the third part of this review is devoted to a more technical evaluation of what should be done.     

Participation's place in rural development: Seeking clarity through specificity

Over the past few years, development specialists have expressed increasing concern over the lack of progress in altering the plight of the rural poor. Towards this end they are shifting from the capital-investment growth models of the 1960s to the more people-centred basic- needs approaches that are increasingly dominating development thinking in the 1970s. In the process, they are turning to a number of related development strategies, one of the most important and least understood of which is ‘popular participation’. Increasing numbers of studies and activities are being undertaken to bolster government and donor capacity to promote participation in development programmes. Yet, with all these activities the disturbing fact is that there is little agreement on what participation is or on its basic dimensions. This article seeks to provide some order to the emergence of participatory concerns in the development literature, and to offer a carefully elaborated framework that clarifies the notion of ‘rural-development participation’ and make it applicable to total-development projects.     

A ‘socialist’ economy in a capitalist world

Contending views about the ‘threats’ and ‘opportunities’ relating to China’s economic rise reflect the complex and, for many, confusing role of the state in China’s reform and development process. This in turn relates to a marked difference between China’s official perception of ‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ and alternative views regarding the nature of its emerging capitalist system. This glaring gap in perceptions is problematic in an increasingly globalised world, complicating debates about what China should and will do to rebalance its domestic economy how other nations should and will react to the recent surge in Chinese investment overseas. This paper reflects on these debates in the context of China’s multifaceted and ever-evolving economic system.     

西藏现代化建设的伟大成就及经验启示

西藏的现代化建设是我国现代化进程中的重要组成部分,由于历史原因复杂,自然条件制约,西藏的现代化起步较晚。以和平解放为起点,通过民主改革,进行社会主义建设,实行改革开放,在党中央的亲切关怀下,在全国人民的无私援助下,西藏的现代化事业在短短几十年间实现了快速发展,西藏经济社会面貌发生历史性变化。     

(In)equality and the South African Constitution

ABSTRACT

Does the South African Constitution constrain or empower government, courts and citizens in addressing systemic social and economic inequalities? This article argues that the Constitution is explicitly ‘transformative’, but is an enabling document, providing ‘scaffolding’ for political and legal activities. It is government, strong institutions and civil society that are ultimately responsible for securing its equality aspirations. Here the Constitution admits of different understandings of equality and different economic and social policy choices. This article identifies these contested meanings of equality and suggests that a liberal egalitarian/social democratic version is dominant in policy choices and the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court. It illustrates this with reference to the Court’s jurisprudence on equality, and suggests that more radical and transformative interpretations remain possible. However, it concludes that we cannot escape politics, the need for good policy choices and effective implementation and enforcement.     

Integrative Public Leadership in the private sector in South Africa

Complex social issues exist in many emerging democratic contexts. It has been argued that boundary-crossing leadership is needed to overcome these issues. Scholarship has developed around this, arguing that leadership in these shared power contexts is different to leadership in hierarchical organisations. This study focuses on a sample of senior private-sector leaders in South Africa who have reached across sector boundaries, in their individual capacity, to make a difference. This extends the existing scholarship which has focused on public-sector and non-profit integrative leadership. The intention is to understand the relational context of their boundary-crossing work and to extend the concept of ‘Integrative Public Leadership’. The leaders studied manage relationships with the government, their own company and multi-company partners within a historical context. The findings emphasise three understudied issues: own-company buy-in, historical context and ‘integrative’ conflict. A shared concept of integrative leadership, located in the African context, could further enhance practice.     

Community projects: The possibilities in South Africa

The increasing emphasis being accorded by development agents to community participation and involvement in projects highlights the need for a dear conceptual and operational framework if success is to be obtained given the high levels of alienation and suspicion which occur among many ‘communities’. The first part of this paper provides a brief review of community development theory and practice. The second part outlines the key concepts pertaining to community development, while in the last part (the focus of the paper) a strategy is offered for the introduction of community projects in South Africa. It is argued that until more control is devolved to representative and democratic communities the prospects for introducing community projects will be slight, particularly in the more politicized townships and urban environments.     

Electrification and industrialisation: An assessment of the industrial breakthrough in Norway

Abstract

The article relates the ‘industrial breakthrough’ in Norway to the introduction of electricity in manufacturing production. Viewing electricity as a General Purpose Technology (GPT), the new device fostered advances across a broad spectrum of sectors. Several other key technologies (e.g., within chemical industries) also played their part. However, in Norway, electricity took an extraordinarily strong position. By presenting quantitative evidence of the electrification process, and relating it to annual estimates of employment, productivity and value added between 1896 and 1920, it is shown that the manufacturing sector was too small to form a ‘breakthrough’ before the turn of the century. It was not until the widespread introduction of electricity and electric motors gained some momentum in the first decades of the twentieth century that the economy become really industrialised.     

Socio-economic developmental strategies as retail performance indicators: A balanced scorecard approach

This research analyses the commitment to and use of ‘balanced scorecards’ by retailers in generating sustainable profitability, whilst contributing to socio-economic development in South Africa. An international literature review of scorecard frameworks, plans and reports by major retail companies and semi-structured dialogic interviews with a purposive sample of retail business stakeholders and government officials formed the methodology. By contrasting the literature and empirical insights, a summary of findings was generated, which conclude that most retailer scorecards (formal or informal) seek to balance financial with ‘cause-related marketing’ targets, but implementation differs according to factors such as company size, developmental maturity and managerial competence. Furthermore, collaboration between retailers and state institutions in scorecard management is not a reality, as has been achieved in other industries. It is therefore recommended that a Retail Charter scorecard framework be considered, to promote public/private-sector knowledge-sharing and socio-economic development.     

Paradox of Empowerment: Reflections on a Case Study from Northern Ghana

In recent years the “development” industry has began to incorporate into its vocabulary notions about the “empowerment of the poor,” “participatory democracy,” “gender in development” etc. as part of a strategy for poverty alleviation in the developing world. This paper critically examines the notion of participation as the basis of empowerment in the context of a joint Canadian–Ghanaian financed rural development project in the Northern Region of Ghana. The paper argues that because of the inherent goodness of the notion of participation, it has become a substitute for the structural reforms needed for social change. The paper raises questions not just about the terms and mode of participation but further points out that reference to the term “village” or “community” as the basis of participation is simplistic and problematic. The paper also questions the feasibility of the institutional and administrative structures within which such concepts may be realized.     

China’s macroeconomy: main challenges and countermeasures*

At the turn of the twenty-first century, the Chinese economy has become a leader from a complete follower in some industries. Thus, without innovation, it will be difficult for China to keep improving its technology further in the twenty-first century. Under the situation that ‘cash is of paramount importance’, the expansionary monetary policy leads to an increasing liquidity. People, with more money at hand, are prone to invest in stocks rather than in industries because it could be harder to withdraw their money from long-term investments. This phenomenon leads to bubbles in stocks and real estates in China. Based on the current situations, Professor Wu advocates an inclusive tax cut policy, as one of the biggest problems many Chinese entrepreneurs face is a lack confidence in the future. The main function of the government is to provide public goods, not to manipulate the market, intervene in the micro economy or ‘adjust the structure’ directly.     

INDONESIAN POLITICS IN 2006: STABILITY,COMPROMISE AND SHIFTING CONTESTS OVER IDEOLOGY

The second year of President Yudhoyono's term in office was distinguished by continuing political stability and important democratic gains, including the continued implementation of direct elections of local government executives and the enactment of the Law on Governing Aceh. But if these achievements reconfirmed Indonesia's membership of the club of electoral democracies, the shallow roots of its democratic system were also apparent, especially in the weakness of the political party system. In preferring pragmatic cross-party deal making, the parties often played down their ideological commitments. Within society, however, ideological debates over the vexed issue of religion and the state intensified, and became an important part of the national political agenda. Amounting to an Indonesian version of the ‘culture wars’, such controversies were sparked by concerns that a proposed national bill on pornography and controversial regional by-laws were an indirect attempt to introduce Islamic law.     

Representations of Development in 19th and 20th Century indonesia: A Transport History Perspective

Contemporary debate in Indonesia over ‘people's economy’ and ‘globalisation’ recalls the vigorous 1950s debate over ‘dualism’. Taking as a case study the rise and eclipse of railways, this paper argues that the colonial phenomenon of dualism can with hindsight be reinterpreted as a phase in a previous cycle of globalisation. However, economic history has overlooked the remarkable vitality of the small-scale transport sector. Focus on the small-scale sector highlights the inadequacies of familiar paradigms and suggests the need to reconceptualise long-term socioeconomic change. This analysis has important implications for responses to the current wave of globalisation and how they may be manifest in a more democratic post-Soeharto Indonesia.     

Unshackling the chains of homelessness in the City of Tshwane: A critical appraisal of the current policy in the light of national and local policies and strategies

ABSTRACT

This article provides a critical appraisal of the current Homelessness Policy for the City of Tshwane in the light of national and local policies and strategies. Both a literature review and policy analysis were conducted to attain the main aim of this article. Documents consulted and used in this process included the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the Freedom Charter, the National Development Plan 2030 and the Tshwane Vision 2055. The study was prompted by the need to find a lasting solution towards the challenge of homelessness in the City of Tshwane through governmental and non-governmental interventions. Recommendations for the appraisal of the current policy document will be directed to the City Council which is empowered by the provision of the Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000, Section 11(3) to revise the current policy document.     

Is there a poverty trap for developing countries? Polarization: Reality or myth

A general view that as between countries ‘the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer’ supported in the development literature by explanations relating to cumulative causation, economies of scale etc., and statistically based on the relation between GNP per capita in 1978 and its growth rates during 1960–1978, is shown to contain considerable elements of ‘myth’ or statistical ‘delusion’. The ‘naïve’ polarization hypothesis based on income levels at the end of the period over which growth rates are measured is left with a much weakened empirical basis when the proper substitution of levels of income at the beginning of the period is made. This is particularly so for low- and middle-income countries taken separately, while for the 18 industrialized countries a strong tendency towards convergence in per capita incomes emerges. Finally, for the growth in manufacturing value added during 1960–1977 a significant tendency towards convergence was observed in the case of a group of 24 least developed countries.     

Clé Lesger,The Rise of the Amsterdam Market and Information Exchange – Merchants,Commercial Expansion and Change in the Spatial Economy of the Low Countries,c.1550–1630

Abstract

Between 1930 and 1935, Sverre Steen wrote four volumes of Det norske folks liv og historie [The Life and History of the Norwegian People], covering the period 1500–1814. He has now half completed the task of bringing the work further towards our own time in a comprehensive series entitled ‘Free Norway’. The first three volumes are devoted to political history in the period immediately following 1814. In this, the fourth volume, entitled ‘The Old Society’, Steen examines the social and economic history of the period 1814–1840. Both the title and the arrangement of the book indicate that Steen's intention is to provide a survey of the foundations of Norwegian society before continuing his work in further volumes, not only about ‘Free Norway’, but also about ‘New Norway’.     

制度建设视角下的县级政府决策科学化民主化实现方略

为推进县级政府决策科学化民主化而实施的制度安排,以有效规范决策系统具体运转流程和运行方式为目标,迄今为止,有关科学、民主决策的制度虽然为数不少,但县级政府决策科学化民主化进程仍然发展缓慢,故此立足于县级政府的特殊决策地位明确其制度建设的基本原则,进而探讨县级政府决策科学化民主化制度建设的有效途径,能够避免制度建设的盲目性及运行的随意性。     

Of markets,might and mullahs: a case for equity,pluralism and tolerance in development

This paper tries to confront the ‘puzzlement’ of the development profession regarding the ‘best’ alternative strategies aimed at increasing employment, reducing poverty and promoting equity at the same time as fostering economic growth — and the ‘advocacy’ role that should or should not be played by that profession. The author argues that the issue lies in achieving a workable ‘meaning’ of development and then moving on to the moral ‘questions’ of value judgments and to the specific ‘problems’ that can be dealt with by science and social science. He suggests that a possible meaning of development is ‘to create more options for more people’ — ‘to achieve that the greatest number of people have the greatest number of options.’ He discusses the need for improving ‘life chances’ and considers the development policies which may or may not assist in this process. He tries to tie together conceptually the ideas of power and social change, consensus and conflict. Also in this context, the roles of participation, organization and mobilization are explored, especially their impact on different political systems. The analysis concludes with a plea for social, cultural and political pluralism — and thus, a commitment to tolerance. The author argues that these goals should be addressed by the development community without the hesitation sometimes attached to ‘protection of expertise’.     

Dynamism and development

In industrialized countries, the human needs and purposes to be served by science and technology are increasingly subject to greater social control. People in developing countries are also preoccupied with controlling choices in the development and application of technology - and the priceless ingredient in controlling their own destiny.The encounter between the more and less dynamic societies makes developing countries the targets of an ‘information bombardment’. Science, technology, values and organization - the ‘active ingredients’ in development - are all forms of information (a resource that is not merely renewable but expandable). The capacity of indigenous people to understand and manipulate the information flow - linking science (‘know what’) and technology (‘know-how’) to human values (‘know why’) and social authority and organization (‘know who’) - is consequently the key to the dynamics of ‘development’.