Browsing by Author "Smith, Michael"

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    An assessment of whether the critical minerals boom and green transition can be leveraged for Zambia's industrialisation and economic development: spotlight on the Copper Mining Sector
    (2025) Kanyama, Victor Amedzo; Smith, Michael
    This study assesses whether Zambia can leverage the critical minerals boom and the global green transition to drive its industrialisation and economic development. As a major copper producer, Zambia holds strategic importance in supplying minerals essential for renewable technologies such as electric vehicles, solar panels, and energy storage systems. However, the country's ability to capitalise on this demand hinges on strengthening productive linkages, integrating into regional and global value chains, and navigating geopolitical competition. The research examines historical policy shifts, the structural barriers that have limited Zambia's economic diversification, and the role of governance and industrial policy in unlocking value addition. The study evaluates Zambia's forward and backward linkages, identifying challenges such as weak local beneficiation, foreign dominance in mining procurement, and policy inconsistencies that constrain industrial growth. Regional collaboration, particularly through Zambia's partnership with the DRC, is explored as a potential avenue for enhancing midstream processing and attracting investment into battery precursor production. Additionally, the geopolitical landscape—marked by competition between the United States, China, and emerging investors—is analysed in relation to Zambia's strategic positioning in the global copper supply chain. Using semi-structured interviews and document analysis, the study outlines actionable policy pathways for Zambia, including industrial strategy refinement, local content enforcement, and institutional reforms. It argues that with coherent policy implementation, infrastructure investment, and a balanced geopolitical approach, Zambia can transition from a raw material exporter to a key player in mineral-based industrialisation, securing long-term economic benefits from the green transition.
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    Branded band-aids on broken legs: a relational critique of the randomised controlled trial's approach to poverty
    (2024) Coetzee, Marguerite; Smith, Michael
    The rise of experimental evaluations, specifically the use of the randomised controlled trial (RCT) in the field of development economics, has been widely critiqued. These critiques range from technicalities, such as the internal and external validity of the methodology, to the approach to economic development it takes. This dissertation contributes to the latter, and offers a critique of the underlying theoretical framework embraced by the RCT. The dissertation deploys a New Relational approach to poverty which foregrounds an analysis of the social relations within which the poor are immersed. The New Relational framework examines how class, caste, and gender, as well as the intersection of these social identities, shape the creation and reproduction of poverty. In this sense, the New Relational approach draws from the insights of Marxist, feminist, and postcolonial theory to present an anti-essentialist approach to poverty. By critically examining two RCT-implemented poverty programmes in Bangladesh, this study shows that the RCT approach to poverty relies on a modified neoclassical theoretical framework that neglects studying the determinants of poverty related to power, discrimination and exploitation. This dissertation argues that by ignoring these variables the RCT approach provides an insufficient understanding of poverty, as the latter play a crucial part in shaping the preferences of, and opportunities available to the poor.
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    Reframing the comparative discourse surrounding Malaysia's New Economic Policy and South Africa's black economic empowerment program through the lens of the political settlements framework
    (2024) Mtshali, Hlumelo; Smith, Michael
    The comparative discourse surrounding Malaysia's New Economic Policy (NEP) and South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy has been receiving greater attention. While there certainly is a sound basis for direct comparison, much of the existing literature has viewed the comparison in a limited manner with the NEP often being hailed as an emulate-worthy model of transformation. This thesis argues that comparative analysis is strengthened when incorporating the pivotal role that the distinct political settlements of each country had in dictating the content and relative success of these redistributive programs. Comparative Analysis is centred on the formation and economic impact of BEE in the South African mining sector and on the NEP in the Malaysian corporate sector more broadly. As such, it is the belief of the paper that by drawing on comparative PSA, the paper is able to begin to reframe the comparative discourse in more of a revealing manner that attempts to account for a wider set of the complex social, political and economic factors that underpinned the respective transformation efforts.
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    The political economy of gender inequality in South Africa: Why unpaid care work should be recognised in economic policy
    (2021) Delle, Donne Gianni; Smith, Michael
    This study aims to present a feminist political economy framework within which to understand the nature of gender inequality in South Africa. Particular attention is placed on the role of unpaid care work as this work is shown to be predominantly undertaken by women and still goes unrecognised, despite its importance in the prevailing capitalist economic system. The paper argues that the lack of recognition of unpaid care work in mainstream economics which informs policy making is a source of gender inequality in the South African context. Furthermore, it argues that the government's fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic should be refused on the basis that it will exacerbate gender inequality as a result of women's greater role in social reproduction. The paper is structured as follows. In part one, unpaid care work is theoretically grounded within Marxism and social reproduction feminism literature. This is primarily done in order to illustrate two characteristics of unpaid care work. Firstly, that despite being uncompensated for, care work is a critical component of reproducing the labour force and is therefore a core component of the prevailing capitalist modes of production. Secondly, that unpaid care work is a highly gendered phenomenon. The role of underlying patriarchal norms in entrenching the gendered nature of unpaid care work is also considered in this section. In section two, neoliberalism and financialisation are discussed in the South African context and in light of South Africa's historical industrial development. It is shown that working class conditions in post-apartheid era have deteriorated and that, due to the feminization of unpaid care work, women have been disproportionately affected by these developments. In section three, the gendered implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and of the government's planned austerity in response to it are considered. Evidence is presented in order to show how the pandemic has increased gender inequality, as it has had particularly negative consequences for the paid and unpaid care sectors, which are overrepresented by women. Thereafter, it is shown how austerity, specifically due to budget cuts to education, health care and social grants, will exacerbate gender inequality further due to the feminisation of care responsibilities. On this basis, it is argued that the government's fiscal response to the pandemic is not gender neutral and should be refused. A human rights based approach is argued to be more aligned with the state's duties under the constitution.