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Review of D. Hobart Houghton and Jenifer Dagut, Source Material on the South African Economy, 1860-1970: Vol. II, 1899-1919; Vol. III, 1920-1970

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John Suckling (1974). Review of D. Hobart Houghton and Jenifer Dagut, Source Material on the South African Economy, 1860-1970: Vol. II, 1899-1919; Vol. III, 1920-1970. Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1. Taylor & Francis.
Type journal article
Scope Comparative and methods
Method synthesis review
Period studied 1899–1970
Regions South Africa
Themes methods data sources, origins segregation, agriculture land, business and state
Citation key suckling1974

Argument

This is a short review of volumes II and III of Houghton and Dagut's three-volume document reader on the South African economy. Suckling says the volumes largely succeed in giving students easier access to the more important documents. Volume II rightly stresses the 1899-1919 period, when the institutional and political framework was laid down. Volume III's selections are more issue-specific, covering agriculture, poor Whites, labour legislation, growth and a little on apartheid. He criticises over-weighting of the railways, thin coverage of industry, and the lack of references beyond the selections themselves.

Evidence and method

The reviewer's reading of the two volumes' contents and part structure (parts three to six). He cites no external data. Volume I is explicitly not reviewed.

Findings

  • The reviewer regards 1899-1919 as the formative period for the institutional and political framework of the state. (p. 2)

    For it is in this period, beginning with the Boer War and ending with the First World War, that the institutional and political framework of the Republic was laid down.

  • Volume III is organised in three periodised parts, with a trough in the 1920s, an industrial breakthrough in 1933-45, and growth and diversification after 1946. (p. 2)

    Volume Three deals in turn with 'The Trough of the Twenties 1920-32' (part four), 'Industrial Breakthrough 1933-45' (part five), and 'Growth and Economic Diversification 1946-70' (part six).

  • Part four of the collection centres on agriculture, poor Whites and the African role in the economy. (p. 2)

    Thus in part four the agricultural problem, the poor Whites and the role of Blacks in the economy dominate the discussion.

  • Apartheid policy gets only limited coverage at the end of the collection. (p. 2)

    whilst part six ends with a limited amount of material on the policy of apartheid.

  • The reviewer notes that the volumes' selections are uneven, with too much on railways and too little on industry. (p. 2)

    Part three for instance places too much weight on the role and development of the railway network. Parts four and five have little to say on the development of the industrial sector.

  • The post-1950s growth of the literature makes selection harder, especially for Volume III. (p. 2)

    the material available on the South African economy has increased dramatically in the past twenty years.

  • The reviewer sees a bibliographic weakness in the lack of onward references. (p. 2)

    A major omission is the lack of any references beyond those to the selections appearing in the two books.