Trade,Technology and Employment in South Africa

South Africa has become increasingly integrated with the global economy since the early 1990s and particularly after the ending of apartheid. However this has not been associated with increased employment and high levels of unemployment are a major economic and social problem. The paper considers the impact of trade and technological change on both the level and skill composition of manufacturing employment. First a Chenery-type decomposition analysis of employment change is carried out and then labour demand functions are estimated econometrically. Both trade and technology are found to have had a negative impact on employment but these are only partial explanations of the low rate of employment growth.     

The new diplomacy of the South: South Africa,Brazil, India and trilateralism

In the aftermath of 9/11 surely of great significance is the reassertion of the South – North divide as a defining axis of the international system. In this context the emergence of a coterie of Southern countries actively challenging the position and assumptions of the leading states of the North is an especially significant event. The activism on the part of three middle-income developing countries in particular—South Africa, Brazil and India—has resulted in the creation of a ‘trilateralist’ diplomatic partnership, itself a reflection of broader transformations across the developing world in the wake of globalisation. This article will examine the rise of the co-operative strategy known as ‘trilateralism’ by regional leaders within the South. Specifically it will look at the relationship between emerging regional powers in the context of multilateralism, as well as at the formulation and implementation of trilateralism. As with previous co-operative efforts in the developing world, the prospects of success are rooted in overlapping domestic, regional and international influences on South African, Brazilian and Indian foreign policies. The article will conclude with an assessment of these influences over the trilateral agenda.     

The Zuma Affair,Labour and the Future of Democracy in South Africa

This review article critically analyses the contribution of Amartya Sen's The Idea of Justice to development studies. On the basis of examples of unjust situations derived from Sen's writings, the article discusses the limited reach of The Idea of Justice in addressing concrete cases of injustice. It contends that remedying injustice requires an understanding of how justice is structural, which recognises that discussion of justice is inseparable from reasoning about the nature of the good society. The article concludes by pointing out The Idea of Justice's ambiguous relationship with liberalism.     

Neoliberal globalisation and the triple crisis of 'modernisation' in Africa: Zimbabwe,the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa

Neoliberal globalisation has renewed and accelerated the triple crisis of capitalist modernisation in Africa. Primitive accumulation, nation-state formation and democratisation remain uncompleted tasks. Neoliberal globalisation simultaneously encourages these trends yet makes them difficult to resolve, given its anti-statism, its exclusionary version of democracy, and the violence inherent in the emergence of private property rights out of pre-capitalist modes of production that have been mediated by colonial and postcolonial institutions and the dynamics of the Cold War. The elements of the modernisation triad are inextricably intertwined, yet in varying social contexts take on unique patterns. To highlight each element in the triple crisis of 'modernisation', this article separates and 'applies' them to three 'southern' African countries. The notion of primitive accumulation is the theoretical lens through which the Zimbabwean crisis is viewed. The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is analysed through the prism of nation-state construction. South Africa, the most 'developed' (albeit particularly unevenly 'developed') society under study here will be examined through the framework of 'democratisation'.     

Local Government Support for Women in the Informal Economy in Durban, South Africa

This paper examines the response of the city government of Durban to the growth of the informal economy. It argues that, unlike the national government of South Africa, Durban's government has been creative in designing policies that favor informal economy workers, particularly women. These progressive policies are the result of an innovative local government and, to some extent, an emerging self-employed women worker's union that has been able to exert influence on informal economy policies.     

South Africa in a comparative study of industrialization

The peculiarities of South African society, where class, ethnic, linguistic and national cleavages overlap, tend to obscure the process which have led to industrialization. This is unfortunate because a study of South African social structures may shed light on the wider problems of development. An attempt is made in the article to compare political and economic developments in South Africa with similar developments in Tsarist Russia, Imperial Germany and the American South. It is suggested, for example, that the German ‘marriage of iron and rye’ has a counterpart in the relationship between maize and gold in South Africa and that similar political consequences follow. The organization of the South African mining compound is considered, in its formulating effect upon the peculiar process of urbanization in South Africa. This particular form of urbanization has resulted in the creation of a very considerable surplus for investment, the implications of which are discussed.     

The Evolution of the Racial Wage Hierarchy in Post-Apartheid South Africa

This article develops a multilateral decomposition procedure for the analysis of wage differentials and applies this to the evolution of the racial wage hierarchy in South Africa over the period 1993–2001. We find evidence that the wage position of the majority African workforce improved relative to all other racial groups immediately following the transition to democratic rule in 1994, but that these gains have been largely eroded in the ensuing years of the post-apartheid era. We review the range of policy initiatives that have been taken by the government since 1994 in the light of our empirical findings.