Development as unfreedom : the role of mine migrant labour institutions as agents of development in the Transkei, 1886-1980s

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dc.contributor.advisorMager, Anneen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGlover, Michael Johnen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-08-10T06:46:25Z
dc.date.available2015-08-10T06:46:25Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractEarly liberal historians predominantly criticised the migrant labour system for its economic irrationality. After high GDP growth and steady benefits from gold mining in the 1960s, Marxist scholars in the 1970s pointed to the destructive impact of the system. Since 1994, the challenge inter alia has been to forge a new developmental path for the economy. In 2012 the National Development Plan set out its aim to “eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030”.1 This is the challenge. For the country or region to ‘develop’ and eliminate ‘poverty’ we need to know what we are trying to eliminate and what our development is trying to achieve. This thesis examines the migrant labour system in the Transkei through a lens of development and asks how and to what extent the system inhibited the development of the Transkei and its peoples. Using Amartya Sen’s conception of development - which sees development as a process of expanding social, political, and economic freedoms/capabilities - this thesis offers a view of migrant labour institutions in terms of how they created and engendered deprivation and unfreedom in the Transkei. It is an attempt to understand our ‘developmental past’ and to understand how development in the Transkei has been frustrated and inhibited by formal institutions. Amartya Sen’s notions of ‘development’ and ‘deprivation’ offer an autonomy- and freedom-centred approach to thinking about poverty and development. Specifically the thesis examines the nexus of formal institutions underpinning the migrant labour system - including state laws, the Native Affairs Department, and the Native Recruiting Corporation - in terms of how they acted to inhibit the development of mineworkers and labour exporting regions like the Transkei.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationGlover, M. J. (2015). <i>Development as unfreedom : the role of mine migrant labour institutions as agents of development in the Transkei, 1886-1980s</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13685en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationGlover, Michael John. <i>"Development as unfreedom : the role of mine migrant labour institutions as agents of development in the Transkei, 1886-1980s."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13685en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationGlover, M. 2015. Development as unfreedom : the role of mine migrant labour institutions as agents of development in the Transkei, 1886-1980s. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Glover, Michael John AB - Early liberal historians predominantly criticised the migrant labour system for its economic irrationality. After high GDP growth and steady benefits from gold mining in the 1960s, Marxist scholars in the 1970s pointed to the destructive impact of the system. Since 1994, the challenge inter alia has been to forge a new developmental path for the economy. In 2012 the National Development Plan set out its aim to “eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030”.1 This is the challenge. For the country or region to ‘develop’ and eliminate ‘poverty’ we need to know what we are trying to eliminate and what our development is trying to achieve. This thesis examines the migrant labour system in the Transkei through a lens of development and asks how and to what extent the system inhibited the development of the Transkei and its peoples. Using Amartya Sen’s conception of development - which sees development as a process of expanding social, political, and economic freedoms/capabilities - this thesis offers a view of migrant labour institutions in terms of how they created and engendered deprivation and unfreedom in the Transkei. It is an attempt to understand our ‘developmental past’ and to understand how development in the Transkei has been frustrated and inhibited by formal institutions. Amartya Sen’s notions of ‘development’ and ‘deprivation’ offer an autonomy- and freedom-centred approach to thinking about poverty and development. Specifically the thesis examines the nexus of formal institutions underpinning the migrant labour system - including state laws, the Native Affairs Department, and the Native Recruiting Corporation - in terms of how they acted to inhibit the development of mineworkers and labour exporting regions like the Transkei. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Development as unfreedom : the role of mine migrant labour institutions as agents of development in the Transkei, 1886-1980s TI - Development as unfreedom : the role of mine migrant labour institutions as agents of development in the Transkei, 1886-1980s UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13685 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/13685
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationGlover MJ. Development as unfreedom : the role of mine migrant labour institutions as agents of development in the Transkei, 1886-1980s. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13685en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Historical Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherHistorical Studiesen_ZA
dc.titleDevelopment as unfreedom : the role of mine migrant labour institutions as agents of development in the Transkei, 1886-1980sen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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